Fool's Epitaph
by YAqkawer
Summary: He was bored, so he decided to try out this game his friend gave him. She was bored, so she decided to play a small prank to pass the time. In seclusion, something unexpected can be found, and great change can be made. Such is the Arcana of the Hermit. A Long, Short Story.


**Disclaimer: .hack/ and all related properties are owned by Bandai Namco and CyberConnect 2. The Persona series is owned by Atlus. I own nothing but the idea and the Word File. This work is meant to be viewed for free. If you paid more than for the internet, your system, and electricity, you got duped. Some advice, get your money back, and deck the perpetrator in the shnoz; digitally if need be.**

* * *

Fool's Epitaph

He stared down at the box that was given to him, its cardboard cracking at the corners and crumbling under his fingers. The box had seen quite a bit of damage. His friend, Junpei Iori, had given it to him on a whim. It was supposedly quite a popular MMO that was critically acclaimed with a large player base. Apparently some time ago, there was some big event that happened in it, but he wasn't privy to such things. Honestly he really didn't care. He also looked down to see the headset and controller that was apparently required to run it, at least for the full experience. Junpei had been insistent that he use it. At least he thought it was optional. He hadn't paid full attention to that part. He gave a sigh as he usually did.

"The World…" he said as he looked it over once more. Turning the box over, he read the description and carefully scanned the pictures depicting in game screenshots once more. For all it seemed, it looked like a normal MMO. He looked outside his window. "Golden Week…" He didn't have much to do. He could spend it with friends, but perhaps because it was a holiday, he thought maybe he should do something different. Just to spice things up. He could always hang out with them tomorrow anyways.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the box, panicking a bit when he thought he was about to break the tabs of the cardboard, and took the jeweled case out. Ignoring the case almost entirely and its art work, her placed the disc inside his computer's disc drive… oh wait… did he have the specs to run the game?

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It was simply another day as usual. The World ran as it usually did, its players enjoying their day to day in game lives to their own pleasure and beat. Sometimes they would accomplish great feats only possible thanks to their working together. Other times they would antagonize each other and the results were… less than desirable, sometimes to what could be considered… catastrophic results. Regardless, she made sure that what they did could be considered all their own, that The World could give them all they could desire from it. It was her role as the Goddess.

Aura took some amusement from watching the players go about the game with free abandon. She watched over them from her own little space in the game that was normally inaccessible to anyone but her. Even if some things ended up in ways that she found saddening, it was certainly preferable to how things were when she had yet to be 'born'. She certainly did not begrudge her mother in even the smallest of ways, but if she were to be honest, she vastly preferred the current situation by comparison. The World today was far greater, far freer, far better than before. She certainly missed those that had left… but to deny the current state and those that currently played would be quite unbecoming.

However… as much as she did enjoy essentially running The World… even she sometimes… got bored.

"Oh… someone new…" She listlessly said as she noticed a new login registering for the first time. To be fair, it wasn't the first new log in… it was perhaps… the 517th today, and it was still relatively early in the day. "He's taking quite a while to decide a name…" Perhaps it was rude of her to take such a notice. The person in question didn't take long to create an avatar. Perhaps they based it off of their real life selves… or at least some ideal version of such. They even picked a class already; in this case it was the ever useful Blademasters, a solid, if boring and common, choice. The only thing left was to pick a name… A small smile formed on her face as she… playfully… began to type in a name for him.

"Ta… tsu…ya…" It wasn't a particularly interesting name, but it was a good one, and it was one that wasn't taken yet. As expected, input from the player had temporarily ceased after her little bit of suggestion, but to her surprise (which at this point was a rarity) the player simply clicked to confirm not even thirty seconds after her little prank… She hadn't expected that. She had actually expected him to, if not discard the name, stare at his screen, or at least have greater signs of panic.

"Interesting…" She wouldn't go as far as to hack into the player's camera despite her curiosity rising in response to this new player who was no doubt now loading the starting fields. However a strange reaction like that… warranted… investigation. It was Golden Week in the outside world… perhaps she too could indulge in something different. Just to, as the players say, spice things up.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He sat under a medium sized tree that stood on a hill above the rest of the field. He really didn't understand most of what was supposed to happen when he put the words into the Gate. At the very least, he felt lucky that the field it brought him to was apparently beginner friendly, if somewhat empty… then again, given the various combinations that could have been used instead… it wouldn't be out of the question to find fields that were completely empty, despite the game's massive player base.

"Stats…" he let out as he stared at the GUI depicting his current level and stats. He apparently had reached level 3… at the cost of all of his SP. He'd apparently over used his skills and ran out right before reaching his current level. He only reached level 3 thanks to his having defeated a couple of monsters on the way up to where he was currently sitting. Over all… he was bored. He did recall something interesting did happen earlier.

At the character creation screen, he took quite a while to decide a name, but suddenly a name was apparently typed out for him when he was in the bathroom. Perhaps this was just a system to help players out if they couldn't think of a name. Maybe it wasn't, but it's not like it mattered. It solved the problem of a name one way or the other. It wasn't a bad name either so there wasn't a reason to refuse it. However since then…

"This is pretty boring…" he said as he stared at the sky… it looked like the real sky… he had to admit. As bored as he was, he was genuinely impressed by the graphical fidelity, despite him playing on an old laptop. He hadn't even experienced lag or other such things. When he had first went to the town, he was surprised to see so many people but not even a single frame drop had occurred, nor did his controls seem to freeze up or anything once he got used to them. It's just… well…

"Really?" His only response was to blink. In real life of course, but considering the headset, it might as well have been his in game character. He looked to the side to see who it was that was speaking to him. He couldn't help but feel… a pressure of some sort as he stared at the player standing next to him.

The character model was that of a young woman with white… no, lavender… no… prismatic… wavy hair that seemed to shift colors at times and reached down past her shoulders. She wore a simple white dress whose size hid her hands and feet due in part to her posture in which she was standing as straight and tall as the tree he was currently using as a backing for his impromptu in game seat. A noticeable accessory hung in front of her like a bowtie… an infinity shaped brooch which seemed attached to the white shawl that she wore over her simple dress. However all of those things seemed… precursory; particularly in regards to her face. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by her eyes. At first glance, they seemed to be simply an unusual light blue, but their intensity, both in color and gaze, were quite striking.

"I think The World is very interesting," She followed in response to his earlier description of his experience thus far. The tone she used was in no way a reprimand, nor was it antagonistic in the slightest. Instead… if he had to describe it… it was like… like… a mother… a mother telling a child some truth that the child had yet to really grasp. Her voice snapping him out of his stupor, he had his player character stand up and assume a ready position, though without a change in expression. He didn't know what the general atmosphere was like in this game for PVP, but he could tell he was dealing with something… different… perhaps it was a Player Killer or PK? … However it didn't feel like it… she seemed… too… nice for such a thing. However when looking at her stats, or what he could glance of when he wasn't looking directly at those windows… all he could see were question marks about her…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

How curious… she thought. Though he was being cautious, it seemed not much like a human reaction as it was an automatic one… like that of a simpler AI. It wasn't so much the movements as it was… what was lacking. In the entire time she had watched him, he had but one expression that he wore the whole time. Even when confronted right now as he was, his face didn't change the slightest bit. The World was designed to be able to detect the player's emotional state and real life expressions so as to allow the in game avatars to match. It was, barring an error (which was incredibly unlikely under her watch), supposed to allow for a person to dynamically express themselves. If his avatar didn't change… that meant that he too wasn't…

"Excuse me… but who are you?" His voice knocked her back to what was in front of her. She took a moment to ponder a response. Normally, saying she was The World's Goddess was her usual response… that is if it wasn't playful silence, but given that she had deigned to speak first, she had to at least give the question an answer…

"Hmm… you can call me… Maya…" It was a name that had a nice ring to it. Despite her response, it didn't seem like the player who she bequeathed unto a name had lessened his guard. Though, he hadn't raised it further either. He seemed to be waiting for something… perhaps she will have to be the one to make the first move. "Do not be afraid," she began. "I won't hurt you. I just…" And she trailed off… what did she want? Well it was to satiate her curiosity over this new player. He seemed to become more and more intriguing as time went on. "I just wish to talk, if that is alright with you?" She finished. Speech is one of the most basic forms of communication, given that those in question could speak the same language in the first place.

A dead but very present silence continued to permeate the air between them. Though it was by no means heavy, it certainly made itself known. She had almost begun to think that perhaps she had failed to get through to this young one. Given how different each player could be, it was by no means impossible. It was from their differences that she was able to be born in the first place. It still didn't mean that she did not feel a bit saddened at the prospect of not being able to connect with this one player that had piqued her interest however. At that moment, like a string being cut-

"Alright…" he said simply without too much emotion as he then sat back down, leaning against the tree once more as if nothing had changed. His response was so terse and his movements so quick that she had almost mistaken him for not having moved at all from the original position he held. "What do you want to talk about, Maya?" She had gotten through to him. Perhaps it was because it was the first time in a long time since she had spoken to one of the players, but she couldn't help but feel excited and happy to have succeeded in beginning a conversation. Not that she would let it show on her face.

"Would you mind if I took a seat next to you?" She asked looking at his immediate right in relation to the tree. It would be quite odd to continue a conversation with such skewed positions.

"Go ahead…" He responded, returning to his listless stare up at the sky that he had held before she began to talk to him. She simply nodded in response, despite the fact that she was sure he couldn't see her. Taking a seat next to him, which resulted in her looking away from him as well, she felt the grass crumple underneath her skirt. As she shifted herself into a comfortable position, he said "I'm Tatsuya, by the way…" he said in introduction. She already knew that, but it was quite nice to see that even if he didn't seem it, he was quite polite. "Now what was it you wanted to talk about?" He repeated the question.

"Well… about what you said earlier… you said that you were bored, correct?" Aura began. Normally she wouldn't speak so much at length, let alone hold conversation for long with Players, however given the unique circumstances today, perhaps an exception could be made.

"And you said you found this game interesting…" he said, almost like he was throwing her words back at her. However there was… a notable lack of any emotion to betray what intent he had behind those words. Perhaps in this case, she believed that Hanlon's razor would be best to apply in this situation.

"Yes… if you do not mind me asking, why did you start playing? You obviously seemed to have started today." If she wanted to be believed, she had to maintain the illusion of her being a player. It wouldn't be very difficult, but it was something she had to mind as she spoke.

"A friend recommended the game to me. He gave me his copy since he said that he didn't play anymore. I decided to try to see what it was like." His answer seemed quite typical, though something seemed off... Regardless, if what he said was true, it wouldn't be out of the question for him to seem so despondent. A human saying popped into her head. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. Just because he was recommended the game, did not mean he himself held any desire to play it, even if it was at a friend's request… hmm… She noticed something in his speech…

"Are you and this friend close?" she asked. When he said friend, he seemed… more alive. She turned her head to find that even though he hadn't moved… his in game character's lips were… just a tad bit more curved… another surprise.

"I wouldn't say especially… but… it's not bad…" Though small, it was there. Tatsuya… was smiling. It was the first change in expression that Aura had seen on his character the whole time he had logged into The World. In a sense, she had a bit of a revelation. A small one, however it was there.

"I see… even for one such as yourself, friends can make a change," She mused quietly to herself so that he wouldn't hear. She remembered her Knight… Kite. Kite was but a simple player whose destiny was changed irrevocably by a chance meeting. Kite was also invited to play The World by a friend, and it was that friendship that soon spurned him on to not only form new friendships, but to also save The World and her as well… Friends… It's not like she was unaware of the concept, obviously. However… she… was beside herself to name someone that she could call friend, at least in the same way that her Knight could call his companions. If she were to be blunt… she had no friends… It was a funny situation, given her importance to The World; a game that was made entirely to gauge and record human interaction. She would have chuckled to herself, had she not been in company.

"Did you say something?" He asked, his expression having returned to its previously neutral position. She noted that he looked better when he was smiling, and though the same could be said of many individuals, she felt that he looked especially bright when he smiled. Perhaps it simply was the rarity of it.

"Nothing important…" she replied. It was simply her noting something after all. She then turned to him, fully twisting her body completely around to face him. "So what do you think would need to happen for you to find The World interesting? To make you come back after today?" She asked, returning to the topic at hand. His answer, she hoped, would tell her just what kind of person he really was.

"Well… maybe… just someone to talk to… " Aura couldn't help but be amused. Such a simple answer… but it was given in earnest. Perhaps like… like a light bulb, an idea popped into her head. However she would have to approach this cautiously and it would once again depend on him.

"Well if that's the case, then I'm sure there are many players in the Root Towns who would be more than willing to oblige you," She first offered. "They are not all friendly, but you're sure to find someone who you could hold conversation with."

"I guess you're right…" he said as he tilted his head lazily upward, his gaze now obstructed by the branches and leaves that hung from the tree. "But… I don't think I'd want to…" he said with as much honesty as his previous answer. His evenness with his answers despite their clear differences was also something she found amusing. Then, while she still had her eyes on him, stood up and stretched his body, most likely in reflex. Almost as if he really had relaxed from the action, his face ended up in that smile.

There it was again, that smile, Aura thought to herself. His character model, she finally took real notice of, was fairly standard. The body was quite androgynous, foregoing the typical Blademaster armor that most players went for, for simple dark pants with boots along with a loose fitting white upper shirt with black coat. The face also was… Aura decided he wouldn't mind, despite her earlier thoughts, as she peeked just a bit and to her surprise, it was indeed exactly like his real life face, even down to the eye color and exact proportions. In a way she didn't know whether to be impressed that he was able to recreate himself perfectly, or that he did indeed look like that to begin with.

"I suppose that is a fair answer," she said as she also tried to relax herself. "It can be difficult to speak to someone who is a complete stranger."

"Hmm… I don't think that's really it…" He said, surprising Aura with his disagreement with her assessment. "It's more like… why do I have to go out of my way to do that, when I'm already talking to someone here? In fact, if we were friends, maybe you could also show me just what you find so interesting about this world?" Once more, Aura was taken by surprise… she had intended to, if he refused her suggestion to return to the root town, to offer her own friendship. She had thought that it would be a novel experience to have a friend, and indulge in what her Knight had enjoyed until the day he quit the game. However, here this young man was getting ahead of even one such as her, a Goddess. Oh, this was very interesting, she mused internally.

"Oh, are you perhaps offering?" She asked in a playful manner, not unlike how she was when she was younger. Perhaps those feelings never truly went away, even after her rebirth.

"Yes," he said bluntly and without decoration. His only other action was to hold his out his hand. For a moment, time seemed to stand quite still. This was perhaps the longest conversation she had held with anyone, and here was an offer to perhaps, have more of the same. While she did fancy the idea of having a friend, it wasn't an idea she had committed to completely. If she wanted to, this was her last chance to back out… however… that would have defeated the purpose of this little exercise… Not only that, but… it would be quite sad for the Goddess to truly have no friends wouldn't it?

"Then I accept your offer, Tatsuya. From today onwards, you are friends with Maya," she said, using the name she gave to him. Quickly crafting one in an instant, she searched for the share function of her newly minted Member Address for a 'Maya' as she took his hand in hers. His lift was gentle, despite his verbal terseness, neither pulling her too hard or not enough, as well as letting her control the speed herself. It was one that could only be done not just through expert control of self, but an understanding of the other party. "And… sent," she said calmly once she full stood up, her hand still in his.

"Oh…" He said in a surprise most likely brought on by the notification he most likely received.

"Do not worry. If you accept it, then I will also receive your Member Address in turn," She told him, undercutting his question, but not aggressively so.

"Wave Master… level… 152…" He said, reading the profile he received. Aura had made sure to craft something believable. As amusing as it would be to purport to be max level, perhaps intimidating him with such would have been counterproductive. Although, given how he has been all day, perhaps he would have surprised her even then. A twinge of regret wormed its way into her heart when thinking about it.

"And I see I was correct earlier, Blademaster, Level 3." She matched him so as not to seem out of place. It was at that point that she had finally noticed it: they hadn't let go of each other's hands yet. She could feel a smile crawl upon her face as she looked at them, after an initial minor shock. It seems that he noticed as well.

"I'd offer to shake hands, but it seems we've already done that…" he said in jest. At that moment, Aura let out the tiniest giggle, but was attempting to swallow it just as quickly as it started.

"Yes, it would appear you are quite correct. A pleasure to have you as a friend Tatsuya," She said with a firm shake.

"Right… A pleasure to also have you as a friend, Maya…" He said with a twinge of embarrassment. At that moment, the only thing Aura could think of was that this might be the start of something truly interesting. But before she forgot…

"Yes, and let me be the one to say, Welcome to The World."

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It had been one week since his last login. Granted however, he could only afford to play on Sundays or holidays. Currently he stood in front of the Gate in the Mac Anu Root Town. Like his previous play session, the town was filled to the brim with players. For the most part, he was being ignored by the other players. He didn't mind that. Last time, he managed to just reach level 20 before having to log off. Thanks to Maya, the process was quite easy, though he did most of the fighting as she healed him, doing so, so that he could also have experience from just playing. He had to admit, it was fun. Maya was a bit formal in his eyes, but he saw nothing wrong with that.

"Hmm…" he intoned as he continued to contemplate whether or not to contact Maya. He did enjoy his time with her… though he wasn't sure if it was a "her" to be sure, however he didn't want to waste her time, considering their level differences. "Huh?" he let out as he noticed he had received a message… from Maya.

"Please come to the following field…" he read aloud. He supposed that that answered what he would do. The message was terse, but it told everything it needed to tell. Taking the keywords he was given, he put them into the gate exactly as given. A level 30 field was apparently generated. That was fine as far as he was concerned. While maybe a bit out of his level, he figured Maya would definitely be able to handle it if things got dicey. She was level 152 after all.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

The chime indicating a level up resounded in the halls of the dungeon. Tatsuya had just now reached level 27, thanks in part to their field selection. Aura prepared the healing spell as the results screen faded.

"Pha Repth…" she chanted. Aura didn't really need to actually use the spell to heal Tatsuya, but it was necessary in order to maintain the façade she had crafted. Besides that, Pha Repth would also help to alleviate the need to further define specific stats and the like, thanks to it being a full heal spell.

"Thanks…" Tatsuya told her, still panting a bit. "This… feels a lot more real than I thought it would be…" he then noted as his breath started to catch up.

"How so?" Aura asked, hoping to learn more about her fellow party member.

"I mean, this is all digital, so… I didn't think it would be so real… must be the headsets… I feel like resting in real life too…" His answer was perhaps more typical than she would have hoped, but then perhaps something typical was just was what needed.

"It's all digital…" she whispered to herself. It wasn't so much a realization as it was simply a reminder. To her, the digital was real, but to the players, it was just… make believe was possibly sufficient to describe their views. She decided that perhaps another question was necessary. "Tell me," she began in a louder tone of voice. "How real does The World seem to you?" She asked.

"How real?" He began, trying to confirm the question. Aura returned a nod telling him that he had heard right. "Well…" he started as his gaze wandered about. "It's more real than when I had first played. I mean, this is all data right? The walls of this dungeon, the grass in the fields, the trees, they're all just 1s and 0s." Aura felt somewhat disappointed by that. Perhaps if only because of her own origins as being but 1s and 0s. "However I guess in a sense that doesn't make them less real then the world offline." Aura, caught off guard by his continuing to answer, quickly retrained her eyes on Tatsuya. "They exist, just not physically. If physicality was the defining trait of 'real', then that would mean bonds aren't real either. In fact that would mean that bonds are even less real then the things in The World. So I guess… The World is just as real as anything else, is what I think I feel about the subject."

Once more, Aura couldn't help but be surprised. In her quickness to judge his answer, he flipped it around to show something greater than she could have imagined. Indeed there were players that valued The World as something being real, but most of them were also those that ran to The World as some sort of safe haven; a place to escape to. He however, simply sees it as real, but without such motives. To him, it's simply something that is.

"I see…" she said, a feeling of relaxation overcoming her as she took in his answer. However she then noted something about his answer. "You mentioned bonds specifically. Do you mean financial bonds perhaps? Or are you perhaps referring to the ones made between people?"

"Um… the latter," he clarified. A red tint could be seen to fill his characters face. Aura was of course quick to pick up on him having just realized what he said.

"Would it be alright for you to elaborate more on what you think of these bonds?" Perhaps a byproduct of being brought up in a system meant to view human interactions, she also had a penchant and want to learn more about the interplay between people as well.

"Um… well…" he started, his face an even brighter shade of crimson than before, something Aura took a guilty pleasure in, as hidden as such was. "Bonds… bonds are created between people. Friends form them, and strengthen them as time goes on. They can break or turn, but… they can also be unbreakable… I think. I don't know much to be honest. I just know that… everyone needs them."

"Everyone?" Aura asked, singling out that word.

"I don't think it's possible for anyone to really live without forming bonds with someone. Everyone needs them, and they're made quite easily. I mean, just look at us." Tatsuya's clarification gave Aura pause… right… they were friends… they too had a bond to one another. A bond… she felt something right about it. She hadn't really given much stock to friendship, even after having gained one in Tatsuya… however thinking it over… yes, she was glad to have him as a friend… glad…

"Um… we should probably get going before more monsters show up…" Tatsuya's reminder reset her mind to the current situation.

"Oh? But I thought the point was to level you up as soon as possible. If that is the case, I think we'll wait." What she hadn't told him, was that she was going to summon a monster normally reserved for the theta server version of this field. He could handle it. If not, Pha Repth was on standby.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

She waited patiently in the private room that she made in Mac Anu. She loved the town at twilight. The way the water shimmers as the sun sets over the horizon, she never tired of it. She had sent a message to Tatsuya earlier that week to meet her in the room when he had time. She knew he only played on Sundays and Holidays, but she couldn't help but feel anxious to see him again… She found herself, at ease in his presence, and yet at the same time elated. She easily understood that this was because she was coming to like him more and more as time passed. She was under no delusion, and in fact to even suggest otherwise would be preposterous given the fact that she was born from records of such relationships forming in The World. However understanding something and experiencing it were two different things. This feeling was new to her, despite her logically knowing beforehand of such. Thanks to her mental age, she was able to suppress the feeling to remain only inside of her, but she could feel that at times it was about to spill forth.

"Oh… he's on…" she noted to herself. She took the opportunity of his logging in to check over his stats. He'd leveled up quite quickly, of course thanks to her help. He was now level 62, and was showing no signs of stopping. His progress may not have seemed remarkable, but given his lack of playing on all but holidays, it was something that she felt he could take pride in. Turning her attention back to his PC, Aura found that… he was lost… she hoped it wouldn't take him long to get to the private room…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

"Sorry, I'm late…" Tatsuya said as he recognized Maya's PC. From his view, Maya was sitting near the window at an elegant metal and glass table, her prismatic hair taking on a variaty of colors, predominantly lavender. Upon turning her head, a move that seemed refined in its execution, her hair flowed like waves on the ocean. It was… entrancing. He never really noticed before, but… Maya at times didn't seem like other PCs… there seemed to be this… divinity to her. Perhaps she was a company employee and was given a special PC… or maybe she was a hacker. However it wasn't just the way she looked but also the way she carried herself and how she spoke that lent itself an air that seemed otherworldly. He was beginning to truly wonder who 'Maya' was.

"I was wondering if you'd ever find the private room," Maya stated in a half teasing tone. Being caught off guard, he did his usual thing… of nothing. "Well? Come on. Have a seat." She gestured to him with her hand, offering the seat opposite the glass table. Her smile, while not wide, was perhaps larger than any other he had seen her show.

"You seem happy…" He noted as he slowly walked across the room. He wasn't in any hurry and he had the whole day to play with her anyways.

"Do I?" She said, her previous expression now replaced by one of surprise. "It's probably thanks to you then." Her smile returned in full force. Tatsuya's real life experience with girls was… not limited, but certainly was not intimate. While he now had a number of female friends and acquaintances, they were still quite… distant. The result was that he wasn't ready for Maya to be so… so… "What's wrong?"

"Oh… um…" he'd been caught off guard again. It wasn't like getting ambushed by shadows… but it was still surprising all the same. "Nothing…" he said as he finally reached his seat. "So… um… how are you?" He started. He wasn't the talkative type, but even so, he wanted to try and get closer to her.

"Busy as always," she replied. "My… work… is never ending." Despite her saying so… she didn't seem overly exhausted. There was perhaps more to what she was saying than she let on. However it wasn't his place to pry… too much.

"What do you do?" He asked, trying to learn more about her, though it was admittedly more so to simply continue the conversation.

"Oh… systems management and such. I maintain networks, program optimization, debugging, security, all sorts of computer related things. It's taxing, but it was what I was born to do…" She told him calmly, but with a sense of pride that ironically felt modest somehow.

"You sound like you enjoy it," He replied, mentally latching onto the word 'born' that she used. He felt something was… amiss with that word.

"Quite… however it does have its own lulls in excitement. If I may be frank, my interactions with you have been perhaps some of the more interesting things I've done in recent memory." She appeared to not be joking or jesting. She honestly meant what she said without implication.

"I'm flattered," he responded in half jest, despite the honesty put forth by his companion. "But don't you have other friends you can hang out with? I mean you're level 152 so you've probably got plenty of friends by now…"

"Hmm… I'm a solo player," she answered. "I usually just play by myself. I've… I've just never felt inclined to interact with others."

"Isn't that sort of against the point of playing an MMORPG?" He asked her. An MMORPG's whole point was being online and interacting with others in an RPG setting. While he himself didn't have many friends online (in fact he had only one), he still interacted with at least her within the first day of playing.

"I suppose… however it does mean that you have the pleasure and honor of being Maya's… my, first friend." He couldn't help but notice the pause… it could have meant a number of things… but he supposed that it didn't matter. "Though I suppose in that sense, why do you avoid others who play this game? I personally choose to avoid other players, however I am curious as to why you also make this decision. "He noticed that she didn't answer his question entirely, however he felt hesitant to push, given that it might be something very personal.

"Too lazy…" He stated simply. He didn't interact with others, because he saw no point in spending the energy to do so. This was especially so since he only went online to see Maya… for reasons he wouldn't share with her, not that he was sure she would believe him anyways. Honestly, there were many things he still didn't understand about the game such as guilds, or grunties, or even how to do a basic trade. He found that he didn't care though, as hanging out with Maya was something he found to be not just enjoyable, but also more important. A giggle, though suppressed, caught his attention.

"As always you are quite intriguing. I'm never bored when you are around." He didn't say it… but he felt the same… just a little bit.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

Something was very wrong. Aura had been for weeks trying to understand what was happening. She hadn't noticed before… or perhaps she had, but never to its current extent, but something seemed to be interrupting her performance at around the time of midnight. It seemed to last for only an instant, but she could feel the interruption. Her interactions with Tatsuya had served as relief for her, but she still had a job to do maintaining the system to even past max specifications. The problem was that it seemed like every system and network for a time… died... and for her… the human equivalent would be if their heart stopped; a feeling that she actively wanted to avoid.

"23:58…" it was nearly time. She had sent out specially created spider programs to search for access points, networks, or anything that still ran during this interruption. Luckily it seems there were a number of systems that still ran during this moment of darkness. Tonight she'd try to hide in one, and analyze the problem from within those systems. However… one of those access points… was familiar…

"Tatsuya…" she let out as she realized the access point… was very near his IP address…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

Accessing the system proved to be no problem. Aura noted the current time was 23:59. As impressive as the system was, it took her no time at all to bypass the security protocols. It was honestly a bit disappointing how easy it was in light of the information she stood to gain from the system. To be fair however, it wasn't that the security for the system was weak by any means, in fact it was quite strong and formidable; perhaps almost too strong for what was supposed to be a dorm computer. However to her, it was but child's play to dismantle. From what she could glance from the system names. The computer was located in a place called the Iwatodai Dorm: a co-ed dorm designated to hold…

Before she could continue, she noticed a routine being called for the system clock. Taking a look, she found a special designation for the time now… Dark Hour… Though within, she felt… isolated… this was what was happening. This Dark Hour was related to the shutdown of her systems. She tried to access The World… but all she received was silence… With no time to spare, she began to send her bot programs about the system to search for all information within as she continued to read off what she had first found. This time aloud and without generalization.

"The Iwatodai dorm is to hold Persona users… as well as those that hold the 'potential'…" Already she was being bombarded with unfamiliar terms, though they would most likely be illuminated once her bot programs returned. She concluded this document was best to be read once she understood the terms. Moving on, she found… a camera system… though like everything else it had gone dark, she remembered that Tatsuya's IP address could be traced… to this very dorm. Perhaps it was an invasion of privacy, but she had tracked him down to the room he was staying in…

"2nd floor… there…" she let out softly as she found… his room… the command to view his room was at her fingertips… she had seen his face but once to confirm where his PC came from… however now… was it right to learn more about him? This… Dark Hour… this was something beyond even her understanding, and yet it seems that he was at, or at least near, the center of it. Before she could really think of an answer, it was as if her body activated the command on its own. Before her, a view of a room popped up. Standing inside next to a bed, was the young man she laid eyes on before, however this time she could see his full form, rather than just his face.

He was wearing a blazer for what was most likely from the local… Gekkoukan High school, she realized after one of her bots returned. In some ways, it resembled a butler's uniform in terms of coloration and due in part to its bowtie. In fact, it looked like a more intricate version of his character's clothes in The World. A creature of habit then, she guessed. Suddenly however, a knock echoed off the door.

"Hey, you ready yet?" A voice could be heard from beyond the room's one door. Aura had to resist the urge to move the camera further in order to view the door. She didn't want to raise any suspicions.

"Give me a minute…" He said just loud enough to be heard from beyond the door.

"Alright, but we can't start without our leader," The voice said in jest. A word left Aura intrigued… leader… he's apparently their leader… of what however?

"Got it, Junpei…" He said…. It was then she noticed something holstered at his side… a gun? Aura was shocked. Aura couldn't understand just why he would need a gun… if only for a few moments before realizing three things. One, the situation was most likely outside of common sense, meaning that fire arms may be necessary. Two, Fire arms, while illegal for civilian use, could still be obtained. And that given the securities she encountered earlier, this wasn't unlikely. Finally three, the item did not match any gun she had stored within her memory. While it did look like an existing handgun, it seemed to be something that was more so just simply gun shaped. It probably could not actually fire a bullet.

Aura's attention was then taken away from the camera view… it seems that all of her bots have returned… she had some reading to do…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He'd become more accustomed to logging in. It felt simple and easy for him now opposed to the first few times. It was the first time he was logging in for the summer. Almost like a blur, the loading screens seemed to whiz by and before he knew it, there he was, back in Mac Anu. Almost immediately he was bombarded by the ping that told him he had messages… all from Maya. It wasn't a surprise that they were all from Maya. She was after all, his only friend in The World. What was surprising was the sheer number of messages. 127… she must have… something to tell him, he supposed. All of them sent like clockwork at fixed intervals of time. Maya didn't seem the type to worry… Well she was on now so… make that 128 messages. Deciding that reading all of them would take too much time, he simply opened the latest one.

"Are you free to talk? Please come to the attached field if you can…" He read aloud as he then looked at the bottom of the message to find the key words. "Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground… Delta Server…" he read to himself.

"Heading to a lost ground?" He flipped the in game camera to see a player looking in his direction with an inquisitive look. He guessed that the player simply over heard him. The player standing next to him was a HeavyBlade, A tanned girl with pink hair who wore what seemed to be a very impractical armor consisting of a metal bikini top, and some plates around the waist… and not much else. However given the nature of the game, it was something sort of standard.

"Meeting a friend there… and what's a lost ground?" He asked. He never heard of such a thing before… an experience he was familiar with in the game, not helped by his lack of reading the manual.

"Well they're sort of like special areas within The World. They each have their own rules and have been in the system for the longest time… or something like that. Why are you heading there?" She explained like a long time veteran.

"I'm meeting a friend there. She wants to talk…" He said tersely. He tried not to rude about it, but he didn't see the point in adding fluff.

"Ah, well you might want to talk elsewhere then. You can't use private chat where you're going…" She advised.

"I see… I'm Tatsuya by the way…" He would at least try to be polite.

"Blackrose. As you might be able to tell, I'm a pretty seasoned player. If you need something, don't be shy." She… was level 200, he found… that was more than seasoned…

"Alright… but what are you doing here?" He was curious… She was the first level 200 he'd met. Maya was only 152. What business did she have here?

"Me? Oh… I'm… I'm waiting for someone. I sent him a mail to meet me here… but he hasn't replied back… He was always the quiet type though… I just wonder if he got the message…"

"Well… good luck with that…" It wasn't like there was much he could do anyways… "I'll be heading out then…"

"Hey, who are you meeting anyways? It's pretty weird to want to meet up at a lost ground, especially that one if all you're going to do is talk." She seemed to be concerned over his safety. It was fine, but…

"Just a friend… She's a level 152 Wavemaster. She has wavy long prismatic hair, wears mostly white, had piercing blue eyes, and wears an infinity shaped broach… Sorry, but I have to go. I don't want to make her wait…" And like that, without even hearing a reply, he punched the words in and warped out.

"No way… it can't be… it's… it's just a coincidence…" She whispered in. "Besides… she's… no… It's none of our business anymore…" She returned to waiting for her friend… Aura could take care of herself now… if it was Aura that is…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It was… somber… he felt. The moment he fully warped in, there was this… blanket of some sort that draped the atmosphere in this feeling of melancholy. The cathedral stood by its lonesome, no other buildings stood nearby… and upon closer inspection, he found that the building stood in the middle of an empty lake. This was completely different from anything he expected. Even as expansive as it was, The World tended to, at some point, follow some sort of pattern with its field generation… however this place seemed wholly unique.

The Cathedral was small, but was expertly constructed. Its position allowed it to seem as if it was a throne to the setting sun behind it thanks to the angle with which he could see it. The main building was bolstered on both sides by relatively large structures… he was no architect, but he believed them to be buttress. In the middle sat a single double door.

"It's quiet…" he said as he finally noticed that no music was playing. Usually there was music playing at almost every point in the game. It was something that he learned to tune out, but as a result, the lack of music here stuck out to him. As he approached the door, he noted that the sound effects were still playing, so it wasn't a crash or failure (which would have been the first for him if there had been).

Upon opening the door, music flooded out. A mix of harp and chorus could be heard as he entered the building. Closing the door behind him, he noted that the inside was a simple, almost typical, set up. Benches evenly placed on both side, parted in the middle, and an altar at the front with a window letting in the sunlight…

"Welcome…" At the far end stood Maya, who was taking the time to admire the statue.

"Sorry I'm late…" He said as he walked towards the front of the room, the light of the sun through the windows blinding him.

"It's fine, I'm just happy to see you," she said as she turned around to properly face him. The echo of their voices weren't so much loud, but they were clear. As it finally died, Maya began to walk towards one of the benches at the front. "Please, have a seat." Tatsuya nodded, and began to walk over to the bench on the opposite end. "Beside me, if you please…" Tatsuya sheepishly turned to Maya who was smiling warmly at him. He nodded again and sat somewhere in the middle as opposed to Maya who sat near the edge. "Does it have to be so… distant?" He looked again to… she was sitting right next to him.

"Oh…" he said in surprise… if it could be called as such. Maya amused to see that he did at least change expression in this regard.

"So you can be surprised. It's… surprisingly normal. Are you perhaps a shy one?" She asked in a teasing manner. He turned his head away in response, but in doing so, he noticed something.

"That… statue…" He said as he looked at a dark statue that stood at the front of the building.

"Funny how it looks like me right?" Maya said in preemption. She bet that he wasn't one to listen to rumors.

"Yeah… did you base your PC off the statue?" He asked her as he began to scan the statue with a hawk like eye.

"Honestly, no. I was sort of… given this form…" She didn't lie… she… was tempted to tell him about herself… but something held her back… she then wondered… is… is this fear?

"Then whoever gave it to you had a good eye…"

"Excuse me?" She said immediately… not so much with indignation, but more so just surprised by what he implied.

"I mean, your PC is really beautiful. It's got this… aura to it… like… it's divine or something. I don't think I've seen anything like it." And now such was no longer implied. Aura could feel her heart stutter and quicken. Such words were not new to her ears… but his voice added this… je ne sais quoi that made it so… so… sweet… Before she knew it… "Huh?" she took hold of his closest arm, taking it closer to her heart.

"You must be quite popular with the opposite sex." She said as much in a teasing tone, full of bluster and confidence, but… there was something deep down that… bothered her.

"Not really… or at least I don't think so…" he said, placing his free arm behind his head, scratching lightly in embarrassment.

"Playboy." As she said it, he seemed like he was about to say something, but then gave up and just simply looked to the side. She… she thought it was cute. "A shy playboy." His PC's face grew a shade of red, which also meant something else grew red as well. This was fun.

"Um… can you not call me that…" he asked sheepishly.

"No. I'm having… what do you call it… the time of my life." She noticed at that moment that she was smiling, and from what she could tell, it was a wide smile.

"At least you're having fun…"

"You're not having fun?" She found that the thought that her presence being a nuisance to him was something she not only hadn't considered, but also was something that she found… abhorrent. If he did not have fun with her…

"I am, but probably not as much as you."

"I see…" She was relieved. It seemed to her that he didn't hate her presence like he implied.

"To be honest…" She trained her attention back on to him as he spoke. "I… sort of only log on to see you." The way he threw out such words so casually was almost an insult… that is if it weren't for the fact that such words were so… so… if they didn't make her so happy…

"Really? Does that mean you'll log on more then? To see me more?" She was goading him now, perhaps because of the feelings she had received from him, but it was still goading she had to admit. She… she also wanted to see him more. She wanted… even just his presence was fine.

"Well Summer break is coming soon, so I'll probably be freer to log on then…" he told her. Oh that was right… Japan's schools would be out soon… her heart pounded in excitement. Days after days of being with him. Of him coming to love the world as much as she did, of him coming to… actually no… that was not the point of this talk. She had become enraptured by their conversation, and the feelings that wrapped around her from his words like a warm duvet.

"I… I know that this something off topic and perhaps personal… however… you're not doing anything dangerous in the real world, are you? You're a student from what I gather. Are you well?" She somewhat bungled her delivery, but she felt she salvaged it to make it sound confident enough.

"Well… nothing me and my companions can't handle…" he stated wistfully.

"Oh? You seem like you have more to say." It was something she noticed almost immediately. He was quiet but he seemed to trail when he had more to say, but wasn't bothered to say it. It was… was something she'd learned from watching him closely… very closely.

"If… if I'm honest, I don't know how it's going to turn out. I just did it because I didn't see a reason not to. I don't even know if I can call them companions… we may work together, but that doesn't seem like good enough of a reason to call them such. And honestly… I think we only barely get along as is." Maya realized that… he really had many problems she wasn't aware of. "I don't know if I'll ever figure out what makes people companions… but I think it's still worth working towards… We'll need to…" This was perhaps something she should leave to him… she couldn't affect that world more than she currently could… there was only one way to help him…

"If you ever wish to take a break from your daily struggles, I will… I will be here to help you… unwind… "

"Assuming you and I are on at the same time, sure… I think I'd like that…" She would like it too… she would like it very much, to help him recover from a struggle she couldn't be a part of…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He hadn't logged on for the past few days. He had promised her to log on when he could… He wouldn't break a promise… at least without good reason. The day was almost over; another day without him. She hadn't noticed is until now, but she had recently become… not obsessed, but she certainly thought of him often. He was always in the back of her thoughts. When he wasn't there, she wondered when he would be. When he was, she hoped it wouldn't end. Because of that, she'd almost always selfishly keep him in the game for the whole day. She wasn't overt about it, but she did prod him on to doing something else should his attention wane. She of course let him off to sleep, but she tried to keep him entertained enough to not think to leave until then.

The servers jittered a bit then. The Dark Hour had started. Since that time she hacked into his dorm's computer, she'd applied the coding necessary to allow operation during the Dark Hour… and of course discreetly influencing some humans to supply and install the necessary hardware. Though while this indeed stopped The World from being shut down by the Dark Hour, it didn't stop players from being affected. Looking onto Mac Anu from her room, the PCs were frozen in place, stopped and lifeless. Their users had been transmogrified. Even if she did keep The World going, the outside world was something she couldn't sway as easily.

She gave a sigh as she sat back down. With nothing else to do, she reopened a file she got from the dorm computer… specifically about a certain young man…

"Age: 17…Parents died in a car accident 10 years ago… constant moving…" She quickly perused through the document. She'd read it countless times, a veritable feat given her status as the Ultimate AI. She would however, always slow down in regards to one particular section. "The individual has shown immense capacity for combat and the usage of a Persona. He displays great control over the power to unprecedented levels. He is…" she simply skipped that part. That wasn't what usually caused her to slow down, but she did often use it as a sort of warning sign of when that section was about to arrive… "It is speculated that his combat attitude may derive from a lack of self-worth. When in combat, he shows a lack of regard for his own life, willing to jump in first before anyone else. While effective, this may lead to a situation where this recklessness will cost him his life. When questioned, he seems to display a surprising level of apathy in regards to most subjects including things such as future aspirations, dreams, goals, etc.. The subjects that seem to garner a different reaction appear to be those related to relationships. This however seems to have only manifested recently, as testimonials from past acquaintances imply he previously lacked interest in even those subjects."

"Lack of self-worth…" she said to herself again as she lay back in her chair. To be sure, his lack of expression could be explained by apathy… but a lack of self-worth? She couldn't fathom very well the concept of such an interesting individual to her, an individual who she valued so, to value himself so little. She had worried incessantly over it, perhaps too much so. She sent him a number of messages in the hopes he might see them, only stopping when she realized how fruitless an endeavor was until he logged back in. Though by that point, she had sent well over 100 thanks in part to the automation she was capable of and freely used in that situation.

When he finally logged back in, she was… perhaps not ecstatic, but she certainly wanted to see him. When she finally saw him in the Cathedral, and spoke with him… She… she wanted… she wanted to be there for him. She recognized it as a silly notion. She was already wanted by those who played The World, whether they knew or not. However… it felt different with him. If it came to him… perhaps it was because she knew him personally, or perhaps it was because… because… she was at a loss to find even more answers…

The only thing certain was that she wanted to be with him more.

"Oh!" She let out as she realized the Dark Hour had passed. It was over again. Aura prayed that he was safe, where ever he was. She… she wanted to… she wanted to see him again.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

"Just what are you doing…?" Aura said to herself as she watched Tatsuya run straight through the field. When she noticed him log on, she also noticed that he sent a message, saying to meet up at their old field later on in the day. It had been quite a few days into the summer vacation but it was only now that he decided to log on, despite saying he would log on as much as he could. She thought the message was odd, but decided to heed it… not without some spying however.

On her surveillance screen, which seemed like a glowing pane of floating glass to all others, she kept an eye on her dear friend. He was now level 82. It certainly wasn't a fantastic level, and there were many players much stronger, but he could be considered a medium level player now. However the field he was in… was a level 130 field, far above his level, and a near suicidal venture. Aura… couldn't help but remember that report…

"Woah!" She heard from the screen as he barely dodged an enemy as he ran into the dungeon. She nearly winced at that… nearly. The monsters on the field lost aggro for him as he entered… only for the monsters inside to make up for that as soon as they loaded in. She supposed that he either predicted this or he was used to it, but he regardless continued to run past the monsters that had spawned without having taken a break. Almost comically, his stride was accompanied by the rapid consumption of healing items… she believed the word 'chugging' fit the description of his actions quite aptly.

"Is… the Dark Hour not thrilling enough?" She didn't know the particulars of the Dark Hour in regards to how he operated. It seemed that the computer's files were only updated a few times a year, and even less so in recent memory. Add to that the fact that the Dark Hour leaves her effectively crippled, she couldn't in any way preen into what exactly he did in the Dark Hour. She could only speculate and from it she hoped that it wasn't that he sought thrill. "Hm?" she intoned as she noticed him stopping for the first time since he entered that field. At this point, the monsters that were chasing him had lost aggro and were returning to their initial positions. However this was so because of what stood before him.

"Found you…" Tatsuya said to the boss of the dungeon. Aura blinked… found? Aura was surprised to hear that his objective was the boss… because given his level, the logical conclusion was that trying to fight it would have been insane… though from the perspective of the player, perhaps not so, she ultimately figured. To most of them, it was just a game. If one thought logically, this sort of thing wasn't unheard of… but still… She worried for him… because… because she was coming to care for him, she realized.

"Dammit…" she heard in that usual low voice from the screen. While she was distracted, Tatsuya was getting… clobbered was a fitting term. His PC was severely wounded; blood and bruises everywhere. Aura winced upon fully taking it in. However, in her chest… she held a hand to her heart… She found this to be… unacceptable…

"Let's see…" she maintained a calm demeanor, but inside… inside she was ready to burst… she closed her eyes. Recalling those files, she then... recreated… it…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

A huge blast emanated from the shockwave of the creature's weapon slamming down. He barely managed to dodge the attack. He honestly didn't know how to describe the thing he was fighting… bestial came to mind, but it wasn't so much an animal… whatever it was… he had to take it down… He may have been woefully outmatched, but he wasn't going to go down.

"Use this…" He blinked in surprise… Maya? He thought as the voice was very much like Maya's… a small pit in his stomach formed. If it was Maya, then this venture may have lost meaning… however before he could further contemplate this, a light shone in his empty hand that didn't hold a sword.

"Woah!" He exclaimed as he was blinded for one second… only to see that he held something new in his hand… "Well… this is interesting…" he said before noticing that the Boss was about to brain him. Quickly, he leapt to the side. He wasn't sure… did it work like it did in the real world? Its sudden appearance by itself was a curiosity, but if it did work… He would have questions for her later…

"You know where it goes…" He heard from somewhere, the voice being that of his online friend.

"Right…" he said in response as he pointed the gun shaped item to his head while he still had the time. The boss was already readying its next attack. It was now or never. He opened his eyes wide, and he cracked a wide grin. "Per…so…na…" A loud bang and the sound of shattering glass emanated from the evoker. As with its real life counterpart, a blue flame engulfed him as a humanoid figure was summoned behind him. It was mostly made of metal. The only parts that were otherwise were the head, which was a worrying shade of black with white hair, and its crimson scarf. Aside from that, the body was robotic, and it seemed to almost have a built in speaker around its stomach region. However the most noticeable thing about it was the massive lyre that hung off its back. Pristine and beautiful, were words that would come to mind.

Without pause, and with familiarity, Tatsuya ran towards the Boss as his Persona rushed past him, pelting the boss with what was an unknown fire spell to Aura's knowledge. The Boss staggered as it received the hits, yelling a bestial cry as it fell to its knees. Tatsuya, having predicted this, quickly leapt at it and struck the head of the creature without mercy. The Boss gave another cry as its eye was slashed out, blood flying loose from the wound thanks in part to the momentum of it swinging its head upward. Brutally so, the Persona was already above it, and gave it a blow over the head with its lyre. The strike caused the creature to slam down back to the ground, cracking the floor as it did so. Tatsuya coiled his arm back, unflinching from the boom that emanated from the Monster's impact with the ground as well as the kicked up dust that emanated from the center like a wave of water. Before the creature could move again, its cranium was pierced by a single on point stab that pierced through with only the slightest resistance as it made its way through bone and beyond. The monster became still. Blood from the wound began to flow down the side of its head.

There was no scream, only silence. The monster then dissipated into bits as it dissolved into the ether without even so much as a whimper. In its place however… an item lay on the ground… and it seemed that the RNG was smiling upon him that day. He walked over to it and quickly placed it into his inventory. He then received a message.

"I'm sure you have questions… I'm waiting where you asked me to wait…"

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He walked up the hill, but this time the monsters were of such little consequence that he didn't need even a single point of SP to kill them all. There was after all, a huge statistical difference between 3 and 82, and wanton cruelty was simply not something he indulged in. As he approached the peak, he could clearly see a white figure standing in the shade of the tree.

"I see you've become quite accustomed to playing the game now." Her tone was the same as always, however he could feel some bit of distance there that wasn't present before.

"Not really… it seems the game is just full of surprises…" Surprises may have been an understatement. He was not, in any mental capacity, ready to summon a Persona in The World. She took his jest as a being a means to cope with the situation.

"I see that you're still fine enough to make jokes… however as I said, I'm sure you have questions…" She knew very well that he wouldn't reject her. He had displayed no indication in the past that rejection or hatred would be his responses… but she had no inkling as to what his reaction to power would be. A human saying goes 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Despite believing in the best that humanity was capable of, she was under no delusion of what was the nadirs of human temperament.

"Yeah… but… " He trailed as he went into his inventory and materialized what he intended to give her. "First…" he said as he moved his arms around the item such that it would be easier to show her. "Here…" She blinked. In front of her was a staff for wave masters, and an incredibly rare one at that. Quickly checking, she found that there were perhaps only a hundred of the staves on the market right now, which was not even a fraction of a fraction given the large player base that The World boasted. However it was only recently released in the latest patch so that could explain its scarcity.

The staff itself had a platinum finish and was quite simple, very few flourish or nuances to its design, but the top was decorated by a single thing. An infinity symbol sat at the apex of the staff, topped with a prismatic jewel that seemed to hold a flower within. It was a very beautiful staff that almost seemed to shimmer even in the shade of the tree. If she were to wager, he probably got this staff because it seemed almost made for her in a way design wise. Granted the infinity symbol wasn't completely like her broach, having significantly more stylings and wayward protrusions off of it, and the platinum wasn't a complete match for her general white coloration, but even so…

"I got this for you. I saw it in the patch notes." He said it like it was nothing, however his expression clearly showed that he was quite embarrassed; her favorite expression of his, if only because of its rarity. Holding it out before her, she took in the staff once more before placing her own hands on it. Lifting it from his hands, she covertly placed her hands in the places where his hands were. Though the rest of the staff was cold, those spots were quite… warm…

"Thank you…" she said as she began to really feel the staff's weight.

"I wanted to get it for you to make up for not being able to log on the past few days… I forgot to tell you that I was going on a trip with some friends at the beginning of summer. I'm sorry for that." He took a deep bow as he gave his apology.

"It's fine… I understand. Some things simply slip the mind." Though not really in her case. "But again, thank you… it's really… beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it… though given a few other things… I guess for you, the gift isn't really so special, huh…" Yes… there was that… an elephant in the room, as the expression goes. With a thought the world around them immediately changed.

"Huh?" He let out as he noticed that the sunny field they were in before was replaced by the inner walls of the game's famous cathedral. Standing at the center before him and in front of the statue was his friend, and behind him were the benches.

"I have not been forthright about who I am…" She began, her words echoing in the hall. She could see that while he was surprised by the change in scenery, he was more enraptured by her at the moment. She let the staff go, but controlled it to float behind her. She took a deep breath. "My real name is Aura, and I am the goddess of The World. I was born to govern The World, and watch over its players as the Ultimate AI. That is who I truly am." A silence bellowed up as the echoes in the hall died. His dull expression, as she came to expect, didn't change despite of the revelation. The hall began to fill (in her mind) with a pressure between them to the point where it was almost suffocating. She found that she was manually attempting to breath. Finally however, he gave his response.

"But you're still Maya right?" She was almost about to choke and cough upon hearing his question. It was almost as if what she said didn't even hit him. She luckily didn't break composure, but he was certainly not making it easy.

"Maya was but an identity I crafted in order to be able to mingle with you in The World," she said without showing her utter surprise.

"Sorry… what I meant was… does it really change anything?" Her composure finally broke. She could feel her face visibly form an expression of surprise. It was the first time in a long time since she left her more childish body that she made any such expressions, let alone one of complete bafflement.

"You realize who you are speaking to right?" She said, her piled up exasperations to his wildly different reactions from the norm finally breaking through. Though she still spoke calmly for the most part, there was still an edge of being completely dumbfounded in her tone.

"Yeah… I mean I looked it up in the forums… You're a legend, and you're the real deal given that you were able to make this," he said as he materialized and showed his in game evoker. "But… that doesn't retroactively mean that the time we spent together is worthless." He paused as he took another breath and put his evoker away. "It's sort of like everyone else in The World right. I mean they play out these roles in the game, but most of them don't show their true selves. However they still value that time despite it being roleplay or digital, or if they're separated by the ocean. To them, the fact that they aren't with them face to face, or even know their real names, they still think of them as friends. I think that in this case, it's a little like that." As he took a deep breath, Aura felt… felt… that he was right… It wasn't just knowing he was right, to which he could be objectively seen as such given his fairly sound logic, but it was also feeling it was right… She'd always known logically about being right, and she did feel things, but to feel something was right…

"But… if you don't want to hang out any more, that's fine. I understand…"

"I still want to be with you…" she said without thinking almost after he had finished speaking, something of which surprised her. She discarded the need to think about such and simply began to let her emotions take her. "I still… want to be with you…" she repeated but softer. It seems she wasn't used to letting her emotions run. She almost wanted to laugh at herself because of how lacking her follow up response was. She noticed that she was staring at the ground in front of her. Looking up…

"Well… I… it's nice to meet you, Aura…" he was looking away in embarrassment, but he held out a hand to her. He was using his other hand to scratch the back of his head. Slowly, she lifted her hand towards his, and then took hold of it firmly, but gently; slowly, but surely.

"Yes… " she said in a small daze as she felt him squeeze on her hand. This time though, unlike the first time they shook hands, it was like electricity ran through her, in the metaphorical sense. A sense of elation and euphoria embraced her, flooding her senses in a feeling she wished wouldn't end. A combination of happiness, embarrassment, longing, nostalgia, and so many more emotions ran wild within her. She was almost tempted to overclock herself in the hopes it would make her experience seem to last longer.

"You can let go of my hand now..." he told her, snapping her out of her emotional high.

"Yes... of course…" she said as she noticed that only she was holding on, his hand now limply hanging there. Without showing her embarrassment, she let go while maintaining her sense of dignity. Coughing once in order to re-center herself, she then continued. "Shall we… train some more?" She asked sheepishly, only saying what came to mind first, which was what they usually did in their time together.

"Alright…" he said tersely, though that was normal for him… it was becoming normal for her too…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

She sat in her room, surrounded by the lights of her windows to The World. Before her, floating without any visible support, was the staff. She had, of course, known of the staff for a long time, and not only that, there were more of this staff in The World, and countless more would spawn as time went on. It was also fairly aesthetically boring when compared to statistically comparable pieces of equipment. In fact there was this strange primal feeling that exuded from the staff thanks to its design that seemed to have been shaped from a single slab of metal. Honestly, she couldn't tell if such a primal look fit a Goddess or not…

But… she still wanted to use it. It was her's… from him to her. She could have spawned a new one right then, and it would have been just as good as the one right there. However, while she could entertain the thought, the fact of actually doing it was… repulsive… repulsive… it was the first time she ever felt repulsed… she'd watched acts of incredible cruelty, and parts of her were formed from same cruelty… but she'd never hated it. She did not even hate her own mother, who conspired to eliminate her once her plan to prevent her awakening had failed.

She stood up from her seat, and took hold of the staff. The cold sting of the metal coursed through her hands… but despite that she warmed from holding it. A heat emanated from her heart that ran the length of her whole body. She could feel sweat begin to form on her body despite the room being at her preferred temperature. Instead of pulling away however, she gave the staff a swing, a Vak Don appearing in response. Satisfied, she dematerialized the staff into her personal storage space.

A specialized function she coded notified her then that he'd come online… Upon seeing the personalized alarm, her heart nearly flew out of her body, not with a boom but with a fine arc. She was… slowly but surely… she recognized what was happening to her… but… no… this was fine… It's fine… even for a goddess… this was… just fine…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

They stood on one of the many bridges in Mac Anu where the water flowed below. He leaned on the railing while she simply enjoyed the sight of people passing by. Now that he knew of her true identity, they had often hung out in the in cities rather than a random field. She did this of course, in disguise. Her disguise was a simple alteration by darkening her usual attire to browns and beige and making smaller the infinity broach she usually wore, coloring it blue as well to further the disguise. She also gave her hair a shading of pure black and altered some of her facial features to seem sharper. As a final kicker, she also gave herself pink heart shaped markings and brown eyes. It was a passable disguise that none had thus far been able to see through.

"… But don't you think it's sad that there are few friendly animals? I do love grunties, but I think more helpful animals would be a wonderful addition," She explained to Tatsuya as she watched another group of people pass by.

"Not really…" he responded in a tired fashion.

"It's almost remarkable how little you care about some things." She had read in a file his general disinterest, but it was still stifling all the same when it happened. Still, she had become accustomed to it over their summer of playing. He had been accosted recently to attend extra studies 'offered' by a friend of his he had told her. He made sure to log on regularly and more often during the break and thus she was a bit… antsy… when he failed to show up one day.

"I just don't really think about it. In fact I don't think I've done anything involving grunites." The statement was quite true. Outside of private chat rooms, the two of them rarely ever interacted in towns until just recently and grunties, while usable in fields, were still a function related to towns.

"Why not?" The two of them turned to see a pair of female PCs. One wore almost standard Heavyblade armor with long blonde hair, while the other was red haired and wearing armor that showed her being a Blademaster. "We could show you how they work then," blonde one offered.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll be fine." Aura was the first to respond. She kept her tone even but strong. She had seen this pattern many times…

"Well we haven't heard his answer yet," The other one continued. "C'mon. It'll be fun. You can hang out with us right? I mean we're on here to have fun. Why hang out with such a stick in the mud?" Tatsuya was about to give his own answer, but before he could-

"I think the two of us will be quite alright having our own 'fun'." Aura then grabbed Tatsuya's hand, leaving the two female PCs behind. Aura didn't bother to check on them as they left. Doing so would only weaken her move to leave. She was without delusion as to what their motives were. She knew from the start that they were PKs. She knew the pattern so well that she could, without missing a single beat, perform the con herself. Not that she'd ever even entertain the notion. However, despite logically knowing all this, she felt… irritated…

"Um… we're already at the gate…" Aura took a sharp intake of air as she was knocked out of her own contemplation. She slowly turned behind her to find that she was still holding onto Tatsuya's hand. Quietly, she made a sigh and took another breath to calm down.

"You realize those two were trying to trick you right?" She asked him… but a moment later realized that her voice contained… venom… Almost instinctually, she held his hand tighter as if it were a stress ball, as if the tighter she held it, the more calm she would become.

"Yeah… I'm not that dense. They were going to try, and PK us right?" Aura felt a wash of relief come over when he said what she knew. "My friend who gave me the game said to be careful of them. Says they aren't really girls half the time. I guess he spoke from experience." Tatsuya smiled a bit at that last bit as the words left his lips with a slight playfulness at his friend's expense. Aura couldn't help but let out her own chuckle.

"Well… since we're already here, do you want to go somewhere?" Aura offered as she looked at the gate from the corner of her eye.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

"Hmm…" she let out as she noticed the field's player count jump twice. The first brought the total up to 4, and the second jump brought it to 5. Aura noted that she was most likely feeling… irritated.

"Is something wrong?" Tatsuya asked, noticing that his friend was being absent minded. There hadn't been any conversation, just the two of them sitting under the tree in their usual field; however he still noticed when she wasn't all there.

"It seems there are others that have entered the field…" she told him, holding back her growing annoyance from not being able to be alone with him.

"How do you know… oh… right…" Player counts in any particular area weren't a normal player feature. Aura wasn't normal however, he remembered. "Well it's not like they're really going to bother us…"

"There you are!" Aura and Tatsuya looked down the hill to find… the two girls from before.

"Well, you have to hand it to them. They are persistent." Aura found Tatsuya's attempt to lighten the mood to be more painful than amusing. Heaving a heavy sigh, she stood up and gave her reply.

"I will not ask you twice. Please leave." Tatsuya's time was precious to her. Not only that, but it was a commodity that would diminish in availability once the summer ended; something that was going to happen soon. She could not afford to waste even a single minute more of them… just being… alone…

"Come on? What's the harm?" the blonde one started.

"We just want to hang out is all," her compatriot followed.

"I might be dense, but even I can tell when I'm not wanted. At this point it's just willful ignorance." Tatsuya took an exasperated breath. Aura was happy to see that he was as tired of this as she was.

"Sorry, sorry, but you know, I think you're the one who need to take a hint!" Predictably it was at that moment that the two began to attack them, swinging their weapons just as they materialized. Fortunately, Tatsuya and Aura found themselves dancing around the two with little effort. The slowness of the Heavy Blade was easy to exploit and the blademaster… well Aura didn't need to dodge in the first place as intangibility was a viable option, but a part of her wanted to toy with her assailant.

"You know… you're not… very... subtle…" Tatsuya said piece by piece as he dodged strike after strike. "Next time you should probably be quieter…" he said when his opponent stopped for a moment.

"You know that's a good piece of advice…" the Heavy Blade said with a suspicious grin, of which he quickly noted by jumping back as the blademaster tried to strike him from behind.

"Dammit, hold still!" She said in frustration as their little double jeopardy surprise attack had failed.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Aura stated with an ever growing feeling of menace emanating from her voice. Just earlier she was caught by surprise when her dance partner decided to break and attack Tatsuya.

"Not at all… Suvi Lei!" The 'blademaster' girl shouted as the spell hit its mark. Aura found herself paralyzed in part to the spell. Immediately she undid the spell, but before she could retaliate…

"Orpheus!" Aura heard as she saw a familiar ethereal looking being become materialized within The World. "Agi!" soon followed and the 'blademaster' was soon engulfed in a sudden burst of flame.

"Argh!" she let out as the PC took damage. Before she could regain her sense however, the Persona proceeded to use its harp to knock her away, straight into the tree with a deafening thud that shook the leaves. Small whimpers of pain could be heard, but it was clear that she was out for now.

"What the hell!?" the companion said as beads of sweat began to form on the PC. "What the hell is that? Is that a hack?" She stumbled over and fell onto the floor, still unsure of what she was seeing.

"So are you going to leave? I don't like putting more effort than I have to, and this is becoming a pain…" Tatsuya said in an almost trance like state. There was this… almost primal terror that exuded from him, as if any moment, someone was going to die. Aura was about to move to his side to calm him down when a voice cut through the scene.

"I think I've seen enough… as is my authority as a Cobalt Knight, I hereby declare that you are to be terminated for unlawful alteration of The World and following your deletion, your character and account are to be banned as per the rules of The World." The PC wore armor that certainly evoked the look of a knight and the spear indicated that he was Long Arms. Aura was familiar with them. They did not look kindly upon her or anything that could be considered aberrations in The World.

"I was only trying to protect my friend…" Tatsuya began as Orpheus faded away.

"Regardless of the circumstances, your actions are in violation of the law, and you are to be punished accordingly." The knight was unflinching and unfailing in his approach. Slow and steady, the knight, with a daunting gait, walked closer and closer to where Tatsuya was standing.

"Yeah! Kick that cheater's ass!" the heavy blade said as she scrambled behind the knight. Despite this, the Knight ignored the PK and continued regardless. Finally, he stopped once he stood in front of Tatsuya… while being in perfect striking distance for his spear… Tatsuya looked at the girl who was at the tree, then to the heavy blade. "That's what you get for hacking!" Ignoring that, he then looked at Aura. It seemed that Aura was quite stunned over what was happening. Looking at his evoker, he then began to speak.

"So you just want me right?" He said as he dropped the evoker on to the grass without much fuss.

"You're the only one who was seen in violation of the law." He felt relieved to hear that.

"Well… make it quick." If this was what they did to hackers, he was afraid what they'd do to Aura. At least she'd be okay. Heck, maybe he could just make another character later…. If they just didn't ban his account to being with… oh well… No huge loss if Aura was okay…

"Step away from him…" Tatsuya's ears perked as he looked over to where Aura was standing. Tatsuya had been with her for some time now, and he'd noted that Aura had changed somewhat over that time. She'd become… more expressive. She always seemed so stoic in the beginning to the point where even he wondered if she had many emotions, but that melted away when she began to smile, laugh, and pout when he was around. Now though, that stoicism had returned. Her face had become… cold…

"If you interfere, then I will also have to del-"

"Step… away… from… him…" she repeated, more slowly this time, but still wielding the same expression. Tatsuya noted that even though he wasn't the one that was being subject to that steely gaze, even he felt choked by the pressure that seemed to exude from his online friend. Even the still conscious half of the PK pair that assaulted them was frozen still with fear.

"I see… in that case…"Mostly unaffected, to the knight's credit, he took a deep breath and began to aim his spear at her. "It seems-"

Whatever he was about to say was completely cut off as almost immediately a strange tone seemed to play from nowhere. At the same time, a pulse seemed to ride in sync to the tone, emanating from some unknown center that swept the whole field.

"What in the-?" The knight started to say as he attempted to put up a defensive stance but when hit by the wave, his PC abruptly stopped in place. Tatsuya also braced himself, but then the pulse passed him by without harm. Surprised, he took another look around to find that the two PKs were also stopped as well. As if a string had been cut from its puppet, the PCs then fell to the floor, static covering them in spurts.

"Um… okay… Aura… what did you…" he stopped mid-sentence when he finally looked back at Aura. Though it was not the first time he'd seen her completely at a loss for words, it was the first time he'd seen it mixed with fear. Aura was looking down at her own, twitching hands as if she'd committed some terrible crime; holding them out as if blood was dripping from them. Taking one more look to make sure the knight still wasn't moving, he then walked cautiously over to his friend. "Aura?" He called once more, though she still didn't respond. He took a couple more steps. "Aura, are you okay?" A dumb question; she obviously wasn't, but he had to ask. When she did not answer him again, he took a deep breath and made his was to her side. "Aura…" He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Right as he touched her, she jerked in surprise. Not violently, but it was enough to give him a scare. "Aura?" It seems she finally heard him as she then slowly turned her head to face him.

"Ta…tsu…ya…?"

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He hadn't seen her in a while. In fact he hadn't logged in at all either. After she said his name that time, she warped out of the area. He felt creeped out a bit thanks to that leaving him with what were pretty much digital corpses, so he logged off as well. Unfortunately, things had gotten pretty busy recently… he… he needed something to take his mind off of things… No one was in the mood to talk about it… least of all Akihiko… he stared at the screen. He'd already put his login and password… he was tired… but…

"Just a bit…" he told himself… and so he clicked to confirm the information… only to be annoyed that his password was apparently wrong. He then tried it again… wrong again… he then opened his word processor program and typed the password out and then copy and pasted it in… still wrong… He wasn't getting his password wrong, but it was rejecting him… he checked his email… no ban email or suspension. He then logged on to the official site… he could still log on there.

"Forums…" he said to himself as he clicked onto the forums and then began a search. "Log in issues…" He said to himself as he typed it out. To his dismay, the only topics were of a few months ago; nothing recent. So that means it wasn't bans, it wasn't server issues… it was… there was only one person who could do this…

"Aura?" He posited. It was long shot, but he went back to the window for The World, and clicked on the username box. "Aura… are… you… doing… this…" he said aloud as he typed it into the box. Nothing happened. "What's… going… on…" he continued on. Needing more space, he deleted his previous words and tried again. "Aura… are… you … okay…" This time he waited. It was quiet, he could hear foot steps outside of his room. They were tired footsteps… everyone was tired… it was almost a full 3 minutes before he tried one more time. "Do… you… want… to… talk?" He was going to give her 5 minutes… he… he was tired… and he had school tomorrow… 4 minutes passed, but then he saw it… on the screen in its own window: "I'll be waiting in the cathedral."

Without hesitation, he logged right back in.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

As soon as he warped in, he ran straight towards the cathedral's door, as fast his avatar could run. Upon reaching the entrance, he paused to click on the door. It opened at a slow crawl thanks to it being a loading screen as well. As soon, as the interior loaded up, he walked in to find Aura standing before the altar.

"Au-" He was about to call her, but a part of himself hesitated. He then instead opted to simply walk up to her. He made a point to make sure his footsteps could be heard. His steps sounded… lonely. They echoed in the hall that was still as if frozen in time, and made lonelier given that it seemed to not rouse the one he wanted to have hear them.

"You have come… " He stopped as suddenly as her voice had come out. A chill washed over him… that… was the coldest he'd heard that voice be in a long while. Despite this, he soldiered on.

"Yeah, I have…" He said as he restarted his walk, stopping again only upon reaching the benches farthest to the front. He wished in retrospect that he could have said something more than what he did say, but the past couldn't be helped. He'd have to move on… Soundlessly, without even the echo of her steps, she turned around to face him. Her closed eyes were then opened to reveal a cold stare… or as it more so… distant…

"Tatsuya…" He braced himself. What was it that she was going to say? "I… must thank you for the companionship you have offered for the past months… however I feel it is best that this relationship must come to an end." It took him a moment to process what he was just told… it took him another moment to continue doing so… the two of them stood as still as the cathedral. Not even dust flitted about, and the music that played in the background felt distant.

"Why?" He asked in his usual tone of voice. He didn't know. He didn't know why she was doing this… It was the only thing he could think to ask.

"I… I have no reason to answer you… I… I wish you-"

"Tell me why…" He interrupted her.

"I… I told that I have no reason to answer you."

"I said tell me… tell me why someone else has to leave so soon." Someone else… someone else was leaving… He felt… sick… dizzy…

"Leave…" Aura whispered. To her it seemed he was distracted. She took the opportunity to look through her files. Even though she'd stopped looking through them, her programs continued to feed her files and updates from his dorm's computer… She looked at the latest file, which seemed to have been added only minutes ago… She immediately closed the window upon reading the entire entry. Her instincts took over, and she walked over to him.

"Aura?" He asked once he noticed she was walking over to him, her steps audible and loud. Before he could ask another question, she took him into her embrace.

"I'm sorry… I did not know…" She, hesitantly, let him go, and took a step back so that she could properly look at him. "Tatsuya…" she began. She waited a moment to make sure that he was paying attention. When she felt sure she continued. "I fear that my being with you… I fear that if I continue to be with you, I may become someone who cannot rightfully bear the weight of The World."

"How specifically?" He wasn't too sure what she meant… she was the Goddess… or… "Are you thinking about what happened with those PKs and knight?" That was the last time he saw her, and it would to him that that would be the root cause most likely

"Yes…" She confirmed… goddess…he thought about what it would mean to be a goddess… To care for everyone and anyone with equal measure… he thought…. A spark of realization jumped in his mind.

"I get it… you… you put my life above theirs… you're afraid that if you continue, you'll…"

"Correct… I'm afraid that if I continue to be with you, I will no longer be fit to care for others…" He felt like interjecting then, however Aura continued before he could. "When I ejected them from the system and froze their accounts, I didn't feel any remorse for what I did. In the moment, I didn't feel any need for mercy. I didn't hesitate to use the same measures my mother had used. When it was over… I was afraid because of what I had become. I do not wish to be like my mother. That is why, before it's too late, I must-"

"It's still there…" He said before she could finish.

"Excuse me?" She hadn't expected him to interject, though it was quite like him to do so in his more aggressive moments.

"Your member address… Knowing you, you could probably just delete it without any issue. You hacked into my computer to give me my name after all, and you could do that to those PKs and that knight without any effort. Getting into my member address list, and removing it couldn't take you more than maybe 10 seconds."

"Well… yes… it wouldn't…" Aura was confused as to why he would bring something such as that up.

"Not only that, you instead went for the very obvious system lock instead. Something that would have taken a lot more effort to pull off, and then didn't take very long for you to lift."

"Where are you going with this, Tatsuya?" Aura asked before he could continue. Tatsuya took a deep breath before walking past her and in front of the altar. While still looking out the window behind the altar he continued.

"I looked up your father… he was a brilliant man all things considered… and from what I could find… from what the rumors on the forums said, it seems he saw you, not as some tool to govern an MMO, but as his daughter. I don't think any father wants to see their daughter do things they don't want to do; things they'd regret. The fact that even after months, you hadn't shut me out completely means something. However what that means… I have to ask you. What does it mean, Aura?"

She knew very well what he was implying… even before he'd finished speaking, she knew what he was going to say. He just knew her too well, and she in turn knew the same. The sporadic and unfocused effort she put forth to distance herself from him… it meant… it meant… it meant that she didn't want to be apart in the slightest.

"That doesn't change what I did to them. Anymore, and I could have permanently hurt them."

"Except that means you didn't… I know it's not my place, but I don't think your father would have been disappointed in you defending your friends. I didn't get to say it then, but… thanks. If you hadn't been there, I might not be playing today. Even if you hadn't given me this evoker, I would have been targeted by PKs at some point. " She knew the chances of meeting PKs, and that he certainly wasn't exaggerating. Despite his somewhat spacey attitude, he always seemed to pay attention in the most surprising of ways.

"So, then what is it that you want to say. I doubt your main point is going to consist only of platitudes and thanks." There was no malice in her voice, in fact she was almost over the moon for being thanked so sincerely by him. However she was growing a tad impatient… something she noted she only did so around him. Being around him was never a calming experience.

"Right… what I meant to say was: you say you want to stop being friends… but you haven't really gone about it in the best way. So I assume that means… and I'm only assuming, you're heart's not really into it. I… I want to stay friends…" He finally turned back around, his face was a deadpan as always, but it now carried a weight to it that it rarely bore. "You make this world fun. You make The World interesting, and… I don't want to lose anyone anymore. But… what do you honestly think?" In the end he could do nothing but leave her with the final decision. No matter how much he wanted to continue on… this wasn't something he could decide on his own. The two stared silently at one another.

Honesty… if she were honest with herself, any idea of abandoning either him or The World were equally repulsive to her on a fundamental level. The honesty came in admitting that she valued him just as much as her duty. Weighing the two in her mind for a definitive answer, she couldn't choose between either of them. She just as quickly labeled the thought as selfish… however she could not deny what she desired. Her wish as it were: To care for The World… with him. She'd long known, perhaps not explicitly, but implicitly, this truth. It was why she had tried to preempt this feeling by ending their relationship… however, Tatsuya, being mean as he was, made that impossible now.

"Selfishness… is a normal human trait is it not?" She asked cautiously as she walked over to his side so that they were side by side in front of the altar.

"As normal as selflessness… I think…" It was quite like him to not be so sure, yet quick to answer despite… Though his answer was delivered so slowly as always ironically enough. The two faced each other.

"In that case… I… I want to watch over The World with you… if you're fine with that." She gave a soft smile that glowed in the light of the setting sun.

"That sounds fun…" He said, giving his own matching smile to her's. The two stayed that way for a moment or two, time still in the unchanging holy ground; as if they were all alone in The World, the only ones.

"You know, with your black clothes and my white, it's almost as if we are a bride and groom." Her smile and demeanor didn't change, but the same couldn't be said of her other who gave a shocked look before beginning to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, grunting about as he did so. "As always you're quite interesting." He was about to retort, however upon turning back to her, Aura placed a finger on his lips. "I'm… aware as to the events that recently transpired around you… I… I cannot do anything for you outside of The World… however if you wish for a shoulder to cry on, a person to listen to you, I will be here for you… always."

As she thought, even his sobs were quiet… and yet to her, they were clear.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

"And that should do it…" Aura said cautiously as the two watched his EXP total rise. The numbers matched up, the math worked, but it was nerve wracking all the same to watch it total itself until-

"And 200…" he said with his usual calmness as the jingle for leveling up played. It took them many days of grinding, and some of the most difficult encounters in the game, but finally, he'd reached the game's maximum level. Truth be told, Aura offered to simply jump his level immediately, but they both agreed that this game was meant to be played, and doing so would ruin the point.

"Congrats!" Aura said, elated over his becoming one of the distinguished players who can boast of being the strongest. Tatsuya still found it funny when Aura attempted to integrate the common player sayings into her speech, but he was willing to indulge in it for her. She did seem to have a lot of fun with it, and he saw no reason to stop her.

"Thanks… oh… it's late… I should go to bed soon." He had school tomorrow, and if he didn't wake up promptly, then he wouldn't hear the end of it from a certain someone.

"Oh… I understand… but… before you go…" before he could say anything, Aura warped them away. Tatsuya covered his eyes a bit, still surprised by the sudden flash even as they'd warped countless times before. Once he felt stable, he opened his eyes to find that the two of them were under that familiar tree once more.

"Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood… those are the key words for this field," she began as she turned to him. "You know… this field's true nature is still… never mind. I can tell you later, and perhaps even show you the truth of this place. For now…" She held her hands out as if holding something. In a digital flash, a pair of twin blades seemed to materialize, only for them to be replaced by a single blade meant for one of his class.

"That's…" he started.

"It's your reward for reaching the highest milestone in regards to strength. I wanted to give you something in celebration for you hard work," she said with a smile that showed her jubilation of being able to give him such a gift.

"I don't think I've even heard of a blade like that on the forums," he noted as he took the details of the blade in while still not having made a move to even touch the offered gift.

"I'd surprised if you had. In fact, the weapon is normally a twinblade, however I've modified it to be a normal blade; one that you could use. It's to be released in the next patch, but I felt that you should have regardless." Aura was quite matter of fact with her explanation, however pride seeped in. Tatsuya could feel that Aura was quite proud of the gift.

"Why go out of your way to change an already existing weapon?" He knew it wouldn't be hard for Aura to give him anything he wanted in The World. In fact there was one time where, out of boredom, she did once offer it jokingly, but he believed that she could have done it with little trouble. However this method was quite… roundabout…

"I… felt that you should have something that represents our bond…" Aura told him, red tints making themselves known upon her cheeks.

"With a hacked weapon?" Not that it was completely unrepresentative of their relationship, but it wasn't the best… "Still though… thanks…" he said as he accepted the gift regardless. Taking the sword in hand, the blade's stats came up. They were quite impressive… in fact they were very impressive. He doubted he could have found better. Strong SP and HP drain as well as 40% chance instant death with every strike, and reduced SP costs? That might considered near broken, especially since the actual stats the blade sported were also ridiculous as well, being miles better than his current level 190 sword by such a margin that if one were to try and give the gift a more appropriate level based on its stats, then it would be more like level 300 or so if that level existed. He then finally looked at the name. "Lit… Honeysuckle…" he read aloud… it most likely meant something, but he could look it up later.

"Do you like it?" Aura asked, a small note of fear rang through as she waited for a response. She made it to be something he would never replace… perhaps doing so was too close to home for her, but she did it anyway.

"It's amazing…" he said earnestly.

"You don't sound amazed… but thank you…" She knew that he meant what he said. If he was sarcastic or silly, it was very obvious. Otherwise, he was very honest with others. Amazing… she almost wished she recorded those words.

"You didn't have to though…" He began but was then cut off as a finger was placed on his lips.

"You're right. However I felt within myself that doing so was right. Or to more simply put it as you might say: 'I did it because I wanted to'. " She could feel her face forming a smile as she set those words free. "Let me say once more, congratulations on reaching the highest level in the game, until they patch in a higher level cap that is."

"Are they?" He asked with an almost naked fear of having more work to do. Aura giggled from having her joke succeed so smoothly.

"I'll let you find out," she replied with a face that would have made many cats proud. "Now is there anything else you want to do before getting off?" she asked, noting that the time was beginning to pass dangerously close to midnight.

"Well… how about a picture?" Aura gave a blank stare at his suggestion but quickly reformed her warm smile.

"Again and again…" she whispered lovingly. "I don't think I've ever taken a personable picture before. I'm assuming you'll use the screen capture feature to do it?" She said with a childish excitement. "Oh I should stand side by side with you." She walked over to his right and turned around to face where he was facing so that their picture would be like the ones she'd seen at times when she perused photos of people. "Hmm…" she slid to the side just a tad.

"Hey…" Tatsuya let out as he noticed what she was doing.

"Is something the matter? I was only making sure the picture would capture the both of us completely," she with a straight face, though given the distance between the two, seeing all of each other's faces was a task that required large sweeping eye movements.

"Well, aren't you uncomfortable?" He said, nervousness clear as day on his person, or at least to her it was.

"Not at all. In fact I'd say that I don't think I've ever been more comfortable." Once again, she painted her face with the devious smile she adopted when being around him. He was slowly becoming annoyed by it… but not quite.

"Well okay then… I guess I'll take the picture then." She of course was about to point out how they didn't set out what their expressions where supposed to be, but instead opted to do something else instead.

"You know, with our coloration, it's almost as if we're a bride and groom taking a picture together on their wedding day." And, as according to plan, he flinched almost immediately, as muted as it was, but it was enough for her as she then wrested control of his system and took the picture, snuggling as close as she could to him while giving her best smile. "Perfect…" she said as she immediately made a copy for herself… and then doing a few other things.

"Um… let's try that again… wait… what did you do to the file?" He asked as he tried to delete the picture.

"Oh… I locked it. You won't be able to delete it without a heavy system reformat. You can access it, but you won't be able to edit or change it. I've also locked your screen cap function for the time being."

"And here I was hoping to take some cheesecake photos…" Now it was Aura's turn to flinch. "Joking of course…" And then immediately freeze the character. "I said it was joke…" he struggled to say as he tried to move his character despite the freeze, which of course was a waste of energy.

"I know, however it was a poor one. When you get on next time, I want to see you do better." She then undid the lock, and his character almost fell to the ground. "Of course you have to be sure to log in."

"Of course…" He said as he began to dust his character off as he accessed the log out window.

"You promise?" she asked once more, preparing to give him added permissions to log out from a field.

"I promise." And with that, he was gone. Heaving a sigh, she loaded the stored image she had saved and looked at it once more… How funny, she mused, that such a chance encounter has led to her changing so much, how a simply prank has given her something she cherished just as much as she did The World: An unbreakable bond. A bond of love… Perhaps next time she might actually go further, but for now…

"This is going somewhere I can always see it…" she said as she too left the field.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It was something he had to do… his eyelids were heavy… but this was something he had to do… He dragged his hand over to the power button of his laptop, and practically dropped the headset right onto his head. He almost wanted to let his head fall to the desk in response. The whirring sound of his system booting up resonated loudly in the quiet dorm. It had to be done tonight… tomorrow was the graduation day.

"Right…" he let out as he slowly typed his password in. It was difficult to remember what his password was… it felt like he was pulling on taffy trying to remember it. It was there, but it wasn't coming through as easy as it used to. "Here we go…" he said as he clicked the button to log in… He… He didn't have much time left. He'd made sure to talk to everyone at least one more time… she was the last one…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

Aura's mood was alight with happiness to see a particular login. Tatsuya had come back after some time. He hadn't logged into The World since January. It was March now. He told her that he was going to be busy… most likely involving with the developments involved with the Dark Hour. In the end, she never pried him for answers on the subject, simply letting him be. It was his business, and to interfere was beyond her scope. She was simply happy for him to come back to her and The World. Before she could do anything however, she was sent a message through her dummy account of Maya.

"Let's meet where we first met…" Aura read out loud… She couldn't help but feel… suspicion. Tatsuya never sent her messages unless something important was happening. However that could wait until she saw him again. Without even skipping a beat, she activated a warp function, immediately spawning her in the field that was specified. Breathing in the air of the field once the warp animation finished, she then proceeded to confirm her surroundings.

"There you are…" She heard from behind her. Aura turned around slowly, the view of the tree slowly coming into view, but her eyes settled on the seated individual. Her heart… did not sink, but it certainly was disturbed. Tatsuya… Tatsuya looked so tired. If the PC looked as such, then the real human player must also have looked so… drained. It was… such a deathly pallor.

"Are you alright?" She, almost on an instinctual level, asked him as she approached at a brisk pace. Without even waiting for an answer, once she reached him, she bent down and placed a hand on his face… it felt… cold…

"I'll be fine," he told her. The effect of such however did nothing to alleviate her fears. The way he responded was so… distant. It was as if he barely registered her placing her hand on his cheek.

"A-Are you sure?" As composed as she tried to remain, she couldn't help but let out her worries. However tired he seemed though… She couldn't help but see it; his smile. It was as if he… he was content.

"I'll be fine. I just wanted to see you again. That's all…" He wasn't lying. He wasn't one to lie. Perhaps joke, but not lie. It was especially so when it came things such as what he thought of his friends. However by what definition of 'fine' did he mean?

"You should not be on if you're so tired." As much as she was happy for his presence in the world, if it was at the price of his health and real life, then it was by no means worth it.

"Well that's why I'm resting here."

"I mean outside of The World…" she admonished… however she knew what this was. He was being stubborn, and when that happened, dissuading him only made him more… creative; very creative. "Fine," she began as she moved to sit next to him, shoulder to shoulder. "However when it's time to get off, it's time to get off. You don't want to miss the graduation ceremony tomorrow," She knew he had friends who were graduating; not he himself.

"Thanks…" He said as his eyes began to close, the wind in the game blowing so gently that even the dust barely picked up off the ground. It was a cool spring day in this field. "Aura…"

"Yes?" She replied as she too was beginning to drift. "What is it?"

"Thank you…"

"You already thanked me…"

"Right…"

He had to be woken up by Aura the following morning.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It still bothered her. The deathly pale color of his skin, his tired speech; he looked more as if he belonged on his deathbed than playing a game. She had, while he was sleeping, made a copy of his brainwaves just in case. Perhaps it was unethical, however the bridge was crossed before she knew it. The act came almost in panic, only being restrained by the meticulous work needed to do so given the equipment. She had decided to wait for at least a couple of weeks or so to see if he would log back on. She had hoped it was just temporary illness… however the time she had given was coming to an end.

She sat in her room, her staff before her, floating above the ground, bobbing up and down, turning ever so slowly in a counter-clockwise motion. She had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this. She took a deep breath as she stood from her chair. She sent her staff away into the ether to be called later. Without even a motion, she warped out of the room. The world of cyberspace flew past her as she traveled the internet to her destination, his dorm computer. It was a source of information that she both for fear and propriety stopped looking through once she had decided to remain a bystander in the world of the Dark Hour.

It took no time at all to break past the system's defenses once more. She immediately set her bots to work again, this time with the directive to search for all information regarding… him. Soon after, they returned, though only with a handful of new files… She cared not for the size, and began to peruse the files immediately. The information was surprising to say the least, however it ultimately mattered not to her. Tatsuya was Tatsuya; Her Tatsuya, and no information as trivial as the ones in those reports could sway that notion. The information she desired most likely was held in the latest report. She hesitated for a moment, but quickly soldiered on. She read the report.

Status: Deceased…

She paused. She trembled. She choked on the cry that wanted to burst forth, but came out only in silence.

"No… no… no, no, no, no, no…" she repeated over, and over. She continued to repeat over and over. She fell to the virtual ground. She could see virtual tears fall to the ground below her. Without thinking, she immediately jumped further out into cyberspace. She traveled as fast as she could, as if a child running away as far as their feet could take them. She didn't care what point, but it needed to be there. Gekkoukan High was an unusually advanced school. She didn't care if her methods were sloppy. She needed a way in somehow. She took over anything she could without regard to form or method: Cellphones, cameras, mic systems, lighting, anything. She took over everything that she could touch, anything within reach.

She'd seen in the document that his funeral was scheduled for this day…

"… and so it is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of one of our best and brightest. Top of his class, beloved by students and staff alike, he was the very example of a model student."

Her mind went numb… words continued… she recorded it, however her attention was solely on the altar. Sitting there amongst the flowers on the stage, was his picture, an iei, a picture of his real self. It looked just like the one in game. It was as stoic as ever. It seemed cold, but the eyes looked like there was still some semblance of life within them… a last spark that couldn't die… that made it hurt all the more as every manner of visual input device focused on it. Aura could only look from within the virtual space of the internet. Every fiber of being screamed to jump out of the screen, to run up to the altar. To do exactly what, escaped her. Instinct was only restrained by the confines of her form, and the habits of her demeanor. Had she had them not, she'd have already began to flood every device with an output to do something, anything.

Her attention snapped back when the old man who was likely the principle left the stage, and the students left. She took solace in seeing their gait being so slow. It seemed they too were tired. However a few remained.

It all blurred. Apparently they were also his friends. One by one, each of them gave the other space and each said their piece. Aura… was somewhat bewildered. He… he was dead… he could not hear them… so why?

She… felt… she felt pain. She couldn't stand being there anymore…

"It's going to be tough without you… but… we'll live… we'll live for you." She didn't know who said that as they all began to walk out once that was said. Once the door closed behind them, she was left alone in the room. Her gaze returned to the altar. She was a swirl of emotions… she could not tell up from down in a sense. She couldn't tell what she was feeling at all. The only thing she knew… was that it hurt. She didn't know why, but she could only hurt.

And so she ran away. She ran back to The World.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

She sat silently… were services supposed to provide some manner of closure, her thoughts began. To her, every moment of that service was like a knife slowly twisting in her heart one degree at a time. Even thinking of it made her sick, making her dizzy, and unable to stand even in a virtual space. The only thing now that kept her grounded in even a semblance of reality was her duty to The World. It was an anchor, one she so desperately hung on to. It was almost a drug, the way she clung to her task. Any moment she could stop thinking of him, was a combination of relief and regret: Relief that she could forget the pain, regret that she even found relief in such.

"This… is unbearable…" she said to herself as if she could not hold in even that any longer. Even her drug couldn't keep up forever. It was futile, in that no matter how much she tried, she would always think of him, think of his smile, the way he made her smile. It was as if the very emotion of happiness had been ripped away from her. If she did not feel, then she felt too much. When it began, then it would flood. She didn't know. She didn't know how humans could deal with… grief.

The worst thing of all… deep down… deepest down… she wished… she wished she'd never…

"Aura… are you okay?" A voice pulled her out of her spiral, if only enough before she were to fall again. She opened a window to find a lone young boy standing in front of her statue in the cathedral. She could not mistake that PC. A confident and fiery look in his eye was only tempered by worry. His blue hair was covered by a red cap that matched the rest of his clothes. They were colors not normally achievable, in fact they were originally a standard green that was normal for a Twin Blade. However circumstances beyond his control lead to his Kite's PC changing so. He stood there waiting for an answer… she decided to oblige her knight.

"I'm… fine… Kite… I'm fine." She appeared before him, this time in the form of a ghostly apparition floating before the statue.

"Um… Aura, sorry to say, but I don't believe you… look behind you." Kite pointed to the statue behind her. Wondering what he meant, she turned around and saw that the statue was crying… "I'd heard that the statue was crying… so I came to see if you were alright. I'll ask again, are okay Aura?"

If it had been Tatsuya, Aura might have been more open, however a part of her wished to maintain an air of dignity before her knight. After carefully wording it in her mind, she asked her question.

"How… do you deal with loss? How do you deal with the grief?"

 **Fool's Epitaph**

She stood over the bed... When she had first returned from his funeral service, she summoned his PC… it was cold and still. It was nothing but an empty shell… and every second she looked at it, she hated it more and more… but a part of her couldn't bear to send it away. She didn't want it to leave again. She had summoned a pure white bed, similar to the one she lay on long ago, and placed the body there almost as if it were some display, one only for her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and changed the scenery around her and his PC. Opening her eyes, she saw that place… the auditorium where his funeral was held in the school. The only difference was the white bed infront of the display and photo… She recalled what Kite told her.

"Honestly… I don't know… I don't think I've ever lost someone close to me… but I think those questions are very human… and in that sense, perhaps you should do something like a human as a final good bye… something that can help give you closure, like a final talk…? Something like that. The most important thing is to be honest with yourself. If you do that… you should be fine."

It played over and over again in her head; those words. Remembering what those students did at his service… it was her turn.

"Ah… um…" she stumbled… she… she hadn't thought of what she wanted to say… but as long as she was honest… "Right now… Right now…" She took the greatest breath she could muster… "I hate you so much. You brought me so much joy… so many new and wonderful feelings and thoughts… and now all you've done is brought me nothing but pain… because of you, I know what sadness, grief, anger and hatred are like. I knew of them before, but now I know what they feel like, and it's all because of you… however you also taught me something else… love… not the love one gives as basic principle of kindness, not the kind that I give to the players of The World… but the kind you wish to give to one person and only that one person; the love I wished to give to you." Her throat was becoming dry and she began to choke just the smallest bit as the bed below her, as his face became wet even though there was not rain…

"It hurts… it hurts so much knowing that I can't give it to you now. That you will never come back… it makes it hard to care about anything else… even caring for The World is almost becoming a task I cannot bear. Every day, I hope, I pray that this is all a dream and that you'll one day log into The World, and that we'll be together again. That this is all a dream is a wish I make almost every time I see your PC… I don't even care what part is the dream. I only wish for this nightmare to end. But I don't want to forget you. I don't want to forget anything about you, Tatsuya… I can't forget you… I will never forget you… because how much I want to forget….no matter how much I wish we never met… no matter how much I hate you… I will always love you more." Taking one more breath, she looked down at the bed, at his PC.

"This is my gift to you… my offering. This is my epitaph for you." She placed both her hands upon the cheeks of his PC, she slowly bent down ever so slowly, and placed her lips upon his… her tears that began without her consent, falling ever so gently down on to him. She held the kiss only for a moment, but it felt as if it were an eternity. Breaking away, a light began to engulf the body. Aura watched as his PC began to shine entirely. If one paid attention, one would notice that beneath that light, the PC was changing. It was becoming… smaller.

Ostensibly in a sense, what she had sent through the PC was a virus. However there was not even the smallest iota of malcontent in her deliverance of the program. The light began to die once the program began to complete its final functions. The glow slowly, little by little, faded before completely dying, and leaving behind a small girl in a simple white dress, not unlike what Aura herself wore as a child, on the bed. Saffron Hair draped a small body that nudged to and fro, waking for the first time. Her eyes flickered. Aura originally desired reddish-purple eyes, however she left the PC's original lavender eyes intact.

"Mommy?" The new life called.

"Good morning, my dear child," Aura responded. Aura watched as the child AI sat up then shifted around so that she, while still on the bed, was on her hands and knees, looked up at her mother. "Your name is Zefie." She had planned for this a long time ago even before she met Tatsuya, however if it was her child…. She had altered that plan. This was her gift, a legacy of his that will live on.

"Mommy… where's daddy?" Aura had expected this question. She was born with knowledge of his existence. Aura looked back to the altar which still sat before them on the stage.

"Daddy…is far away now… but I'm sure he'd love you as much as I do…" She would care for this child…a legacy for him, formed with her seed, and his body. However that was for another time… for now… "Would you like to make friends?" Her daughter should learn more about humanity…

"Friends!" She parroted excitedly. As if in some sentimental tone, Aura looked again at the altar, and whispered to herself as Zefie began to play around with her powers.

"Please watch over our daughter…" Things weren't alright. Things probably won't be for a while. However, they were better now than they have been for a long while. In her heart, she promised to never, ever forget. So long as she was alive, she never would stop loving him.

"Mommy!"

"Ah, yes. Let's go…" Taking Zefie's hand in hers, they walked away from the altar and warped out. She had things he had to do, and promises she had to keep. "Would you like to hear about Daddy on the way?"

"Okay… what was he like…"

"Well… he was… quiet…"

 **Fool's Epitaph**

Years had passed… CC Corp was in the midst of readying their servers for the second revision of The World, or R:2 as it was shortened to at times. She sat in her usual space that survived the fire that destroyed much of the data of The World. Zefie was asleep on the bed as was usual, after tiring herself out. Aura had finished creating her knights. These three figures, Azure Kite, Azure Orca, and Azure Balmung, would serve as the keepers in her place. She… she had become tired of watching over The World. Her love had not waned in the slightest, but it had been tried. Humanity needed to stand on its own feet she had come to believe. She would intervene if needed, but by and large she was going to undertake a more passive role in the future.

She stared at the three keepers, though similar to her memories, she had to admit that they were but mere facsimiles of the original PCs. They were NPCs that had a basic AI, nowhere near the equal to her's or Zefie's intellect. She did not originally feel the need to make them… however her interactions with him sparked a re-evaluation of her care for The World. Remembering those days, she decided to make these knights when time had permitted, rather than when it was too late, and she would have had to rush to make them. They would protect The World in her place, should something happen to it, or a virus infects it in her absence.

However she wished to make one more… She had created the body already. It stood in front of the other three as if it were their leader. Perhaps she was a bit overzealous, but she had made this one an Adept Rouge, a new class for R:2 that could use a limited combination of weapons based on a point system. It was also one for that matter that broke the rules, and was capable of using all weapons as well as also having statistics that made it stronger than the maximum level. She had only to create an AI to use this body that was like Tatsuya's, but was not… However unlike the three knights… she hesitated to make one… She looked over the materialized PC… it was largley similar to the one from before, however the clothes were a little more ornate to match with R:2's style, with added buckles and flairs to the clothes.

"It's… it's not right…" She struggled… no matter how much she valued the other three knights, there was this distance between her and their originals that was maintained. At best there was an acquaintanceship and nothing more between her and the originals. However Tatsuya… to her, his existence was sacrosanct. She brought out the file… the one that contained his final brain pattern before he logged off for the last time. She wanted to throw this file away so many times before in the past. However a sentimental part of her couldn't bring herself to delete it... She knew it was wrong to have such a file… but for however wrong it was, she'd never struggled more over something than the existence of this copy of his brain patterns…

"Tatsuya… what should I do…" she said as she closed her eyes from her frustration. In the midst of her confusion she felt her environment shift around her. In panic, she quickly opened her eyes to find that her room, and Zefie had disappeared. Calming herself as quickly as possible, she attempted to open up her windows she used to access the system… only to be given nothing… Not dwelling on it long, she looked around her and took stock of her environment… Gold… the world around her was golden. Above were stars in places that didn't match the data she had and, neither did they match any picture from orbital telescopes either of worlds beyond earth. What worried her was that this place did not feel within The World… and yet she was not hindered in any manner… she felt… free… at home… at peace… This was a beautiful place, she felt. She could not help but bask in an afterglow of contentment… such was this space… but she felt a presence behind her… Was it fear, or was it excitement that wrapped itself around her as she slowly turned around. Though at first slow, she whipped around , fluttering her dress in the resulting wind, once even the smallest glimpse of what was behind her was caught.

A massive door stood there… of which was not even the slightest bit interesting. It was beautiful, to be sure, ordained with well crafted carvings, and shimmering brightly even in this golden land, however that was only incidental to what truly caught her eye…

"Tatsuya…" Or at least the real Tatsuya, the real life one… or a statue as it were, once she regained her composure and was able to fully understand what she saw. Luckily, it appeared she retained her ability to fly, and so she began to float up towards the statue. On the way, she couldn't help but notice the chains that seemed to hold him in a sort of crucified manner. It brought to her mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was a horrific sight. To see someone she cared for so in such manner was disquieting, especially since the chains looked so… vile… She realized that she seemed to take such stock in what was most likely only a statue…except… it looked so real… and its presence… its presence…

"Oh…" she stopped suddenly once she realized she had come quite close to the effigy of her beloved. She stared quietly at it… she was… entranced. She felt her eyes water for some reason. She was becoming overcome… Was it nostalgia, or perhaps something else? Not even she knew the answer. All she knew, was that it felt as if she had returned to somewhere she belonged… she felt… happy… The feeling was cut off as the statue began to glow. She drew up her guard, but lowered it when the light left the rest of the body, and focused around the chest area of the statue. From there emerged a small ball of light. It glowed a soft glow that felt warm and welcoming. It felt like him… However before she could marvel more at what was happening…

"&^# (*^%(*#&*% )^! &*$( ^!$ #$(*^(!" An in human cry rang out behind her, quickly turning around, she saw a black, monstrous two headed beast stand before the door. Aura recognized the feeling she felt from it… malice, hatred, grief, apathy, and so much more. It felt like a mass of nothing but the worst that humanity could offer… She was about to attempt to warp out however she turned back around to his statue… she knew that this was most likely just a statue… no… it felt like more than a statue she realized… it was for that reason why she could not stand to leave it… to leave it with this… beast. She turned around to look once more at this beast.

"If you wish to take him, you will have to go through me… I… I will not abandon him…" She steeled herself as the beast approached, each step looking as if it corrupted the world further and further with its reach and presence. It raised its claw once it drew close enough.

"I do not fear you." She held tight to her the ball of light she had been given. The claw came down, roaring through the air as it did so due to its sheer size. Instinctually, she closed her eyes before the moment it would strike… but it never came. Opening her eyes, Aura found herself once more in her room… In a cold sweat, her eyes swerved left and right about the room.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" Aura jumped a bit upon hearing her daughter's question. She looked down to find a face of worry painted upon Zefie. Aura took a deep breath. She had no idea what had just happened. Her mind raced to rationalize what she just saw. A dream? A vision? It felt so real to her at the time she didn't think to even question the reality of her experience at that moment…

"I'm alright…" she said to Zefie as much as to herself.

"Mommy… what's that in your hand?" For a moment, Aura wondered what her daughter was talking about, however looking down she found… a small ball of light in her hands…

"I… suppose it's made my decision for me…" Aura opened the file for the brain pattern again… she could only hope he would forgive her.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It felt like waking up… it felt as if he'd been asleep for a long time. The floor felt oh so very cold, but the warmth of the sun, and the light that reached past his eyelids beckoned him to wake. His eyes filtered open and closed as he realized… he was on the floor. He sat up slowly, his elbows pushing against the ground, pinching where it was thinnest, helping him to wake up at the very least. He recognized this place… it was Hulle Granz Cathedral… except… her statue was gone… He stared at the empty space when he realized that she was no longer there… He had… several questions… however…

In one of the usually empty alcoves that stood at the sides of the building was a blue door… a very familiar door… He got up and walked over to it, his step a bit unsure and unbalanced as he he got used to walking again… when he finally reached the door, he took out a key that seemed to have always been in his pocket, and opened the door.

With a flash of light he found himself sitting in a velvet blue elevator that sat still, its door opened and bright. In front of him was a table and couch and in that seat was an old man.

"Welcome… to the Velvet Room. I see you're looking as well as ever."

"It's… good to see you again… Igor," he recognized the long nosed, bloodshot eyed man. He had been a valuable ally in the past, despite his appearance. "But… how am I…" he trailed… he didn't really know what was going on… and let alone why he was in The World…

"Hmm… from what I can tell… there appears to be some force within this reality you know as The World. If you recall, Nyx was a being created from the collective thoughts and wishes of death that haunted the minds of man. It would appear that The World, as it were, has something similar; a being born from the feelings of man. What feelings, I cannot say. However that being's powers had become strong enough, as it were, to retrieve a piece of your soul from the seal. Enough to give you your current form, but leaving enough to keep the seal intact… Perhaps it would be best for you to give thanks to whoever it was that brought you to this state. Or perhaps you will curse them. Regardless, you are still a guest in this room. The contract is still in place…"

"Right… um… thanks Igor…" He said awkwardly…

"Just be sure to hold up your end of the contract, and I will continue to uphold mine. Now, I should not keep you here for long. You perhaps wish to meet this being, I presume…"

"Yeah… I think I have an idea as to who she is…" A being made of the wishes and feelings of man… only one person he knew could also fulfil that description besides Nyx.

"Then I bid you farewell, dear guest. Until we meet again." And with that, another flash of light engulfed his view, and when he realized it, he had returned to the holy ground, the blue door glowing every so calmly in its little alcove.

"Well that was thing…" he said to himself, still processing, or perhaps only beginning to process, the fact that… in a sense… he was alive again… feeling tired, he walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. Upon doing so, he was reminded that the statue wasn't there anymore… Aura's statue… "Aura… where are you…" he said to himself. Seeing as he wasn't getting anywhere here, he figured the town would hold some answers…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

It… it was called Mac Anu… some parts were like Mac Anu… but this wasn't the Mac Anu he rememebered… He walked through the town that was eternally in twilight as far as he remembered. For one thing… when was steam punk added to the scenary? Stacks of smoke rose in the distance, and certain places certainly looked like they were nothing but steam machines. The city was so much larger than before… he got lost a couple of times… though that probably happened in the old Mac Anu too. He also went back to the chaos gate to try and see what the other towns were like, but when he saw names like Dol Donna, Lumina Cloth and Breg Epona, he gave up. He didn't recognize those names… did The World undergo a major overhaul or something he wondered?

He sat at the harbor, the water not tall enough to touch his feet just yet, looking out over the sea and the island that lay in the distance… Among all of things regarding the town though, one thing bothered him most… he was alone. There wasn't a single other player online. Or not one he could find…Because of that… it was lonely. Well it was peaceful, that's for sure. He didn't mind having some time for himself… it made it easier for him to get used to being… alive… sort of… Well… he was getting… sleepy. He lay down back down, closing his eyes… he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon… He'll… just… rest his… eyes…

 **Fool's Epitaph**

He opened his eyes sharply this time, a slight sweat thanks to the warm sun having built up upon his skin… but also there was something… warm at his side. It felt like a nuzzled cat, more than anything else. He could feel the beat of its heart as well as a breath pass over his a small spot on his body every so often. Well that would be cool if they added cats to the game. He, without looking, placed a hand on the thing that seemed to have nestled next to him… except that was not cat fur he felt… in fact it felt like a mix of human hair, and clothes…He looked down ever so slowly… she looked like Aura, to him. She had saffron colored hair, but he got the same feeling from her as he did from Aura… A part of him was happy to had finally found someone else, another was confused as to who this little girl was, and another was happy that she was the only one around… because this would have been awkward to explain anyone else.

Calmly, he sat up, making sure to not wake the the sleeping child… a task which he failed to accomplish. She began to stir, propping herself up using his stomach as a base. Once she was sufficiently stable, she gave a big yawn, revealing a tiny voice, and then rubbed her eyes. When she finished, she opened them… to reveal a familiar set of lavender eyes… like his own… He thought it was strange, but gave it no further thought.

"Daddy?" The girl said, still a bit sleepy, before fully opening her big, child eyes.

"What?" He appropriately responded… last time he checked… well times had changed… actually for him, that still was not a sufficient explanation. The girl then gave to him a huge smile.

"It's nice to meet you Daddy! Welcome to The World R:2!" It gave him a sense of relief that she confirmed this to be the first time they met… also he was quite surprised to hear R:2. That certainly answered a lot of his questions. A certainly answered why everything seemed so different as well as why there were no players… of which he speculated that perhaps the game hadn't gone online just yet.

"Daddy? Then… who's Mommy?" He… didn't have the best track record for this sort of thing. If anything it was quite a terrible one. Then again, given his current situation…

"Aura, silly Daddy! Aura is Mommy!" His eyes widened with every word she spoke. The number of questions he had also increased in tandem. How, what, why, repeated in his mind over and over. He took a deep breath, however, and focused himself.

"Well what's your name?" He didn't recall her giving him her name.

"I'm Zefie!" Zefie, like zephyr he thought; a gentle breeze. Well to him it so far was not the most apt name in the world because of how much her very existence was quite impactful upon him. Regardless, he kept that to himself and focused on what was most important.

"Well then… Zefie… where's Mommy? Do you know where she is?" He hung out with kids before… he drew upon those experiences when dealing with his… daughter. Soft, clear, and fully explained he tried to be.

"Zefie knows! Follow Zefie!" with that she floated into the air, and began to fly like a pixie between the buildings and a pace faster than the normal game running speed.

"Hey! ... Uh… hopefully she'll I'm not behind her before too long… " he got up at his usual lethargic pace, and followed where he remembered her to have passed by. Oh well… all the time in The World he presumed; All the time in The World.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

Zefie had gone on ahead of him. He looked at the key words that he was told to input into the Chaos Gate: Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood. These were the key words for the very first field he entered… In R:1 they were just a simple low level field that wasn't anything terribly remarkable. However in R:2…

"That's… not a normal field…" It didn't even have a level attached to it. He tried a few other combinations and they were all more to what he expected. However the preview picture showed something he didn't see in any of the other fields… a glowing white as snow tree that looked to be inside of a cave surrounded by a lake. He realized it must be like the Cathedral, a lost ground. He didn't want to keep Zefie waiting for long, so he placed the key words into the correct spaces and warped in. When he did so, it felt like the game wasn't running as smoothly as usual. It stuttered a bit here and there seemed to be lag here and there. It happened earlier as well in the town. It worried him a bit, but there wasn't much he could do.

When he warped in, it looked exactly as he thought it would from the preview. He stood near a wall at the far end where a Platform was. He turned his head around to look for Zephie, but she was nowhere to be found. Seeing how standing around wasn't getting him anywhere, he walked slowly towards the lake, its water crystal clear and pure. He was surprised when the hard stone changed to sand, his steps turning from echoes to crunching pebbles. He looked down to confirm that it was sand, but on the way down, something caught his eye. Something was embedded into the sand, or more so carved. It was a little further down and closer to the water.

He continued on, and noted how the sand became wetter the closer he got to the lake. When he finally reached what caught his eye, he saw that it was a message written in the sand. He crouched down and read it out loud, both to help confirm to himself what he was reading, and because of the dim light.

"I love you, and I'm sorry," he read slowly. He got up and took a deep breath. "You're watching, aren't you?" He said to the ether. "You're the system itself… or at least that's how I remember it. So… come on… what's the worst I can do to a friend?" He heard the sand buckle behind him, and turned around to greet her. She stood frozen when she noticed him turn around, but then seemed to relax a bit and then stiffen up once again for some reason. He was about to chastise her jokingly, but found himself unable to come up with the words either. He shook his head just a small amount, taking a breath once he finished. "You look like you're doing well." Aura jumped a little in surprise when he suddenly began to speak. Collecting herself, she took her own deep breath and replied in turn.

"Yes… I've been doing fine… how… how is your new body?" She asked. It was his only body now… if there were any problems… it would be her fault.

"It took some getting used to… being able to actually feel The World… but it's fine now." Before, he viewed the world from behind glass, granted very high-tech glass, but glass all the same. However now it was his actual eyes that saw, his ears that heard, and his skin that felt The World. "I haven't had any problems." Aura was relieved to hear that as she began to relax.

"That's good to hear. I spent much time developing that body. I wanted it to be perfect for you…" She realized how that sounded, however the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Her feelings were already spelled (literally) out. She pressed on. It was something she needed to say. "I'm… I'm sorry. I don't know the circumstances for what happened, and it may have been against your will to be given life again… " This was it… but it had to said… "If you hate me for what I did… I can do nothing but ask for your forgiveness…" She had done nothing but worry when she finished integrating that sphere of light with his brain patterns, and put them into the PC. She had wondered if she would incur his wrath for doing something without his consent. She'd read reports from the Kirijo network while he wandered the new Mac Anu and learned what that door was… However… her desire to see him again…

"Thanks…" Aura's mind paused as she processed what he said… it was the answer she hoped for, but was prepared to be denied. She looked at him as he stood there, the light of the tree behind him; a smile that could only mean gratitude painting his face. "It's not every day someone comes back to life… " He then held out his hand. "So… Thank you, Aura. Thanks for this chance to live again." She stared at him and his hand. A feeling most fleeting built up within her breast and in a single second, as if a damn had broken, she ran. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, tears trailing behind her and wetting the sand below, and embraced him with her full might.

"Welcome back to The World…" He was taken aback by the action, if only because of the impact from her embrace. He luckily had gotten enough of a hang of his body to maintain his balance. Seeing how Aura was most likely not going to move, her arms completely entangling him, he returned the gesture…

"Yeah… I'm back… and… also… um…"

"Hmm?" Aura let out, loosening her grip only so that she could see his face.

"Um… Me too…" he said as he tried to avert his eyes, however that only gave Aura a full view of one of his ears; completely red from the bottom to the top. She smiled as her chest heaved in a small trickle of laughter.

"Tatsuya, look me in the eye," she requested straight into his ear. He shivered from the act and quickly moved so that she could not do that again, only for her to do something he did not expect, even though he should have. His eyes widened as far as they could when her lips pressed against his own. He felt almost all of his attention fall to where his lips touched hers. It was soft and gentle as one would expect of someone so caring. Aura locked their lips nicely together as if they were one and the same, where hers ended and his began blurred, yet it was not hard enough to pinch it against the teeth. When they broke, they both gasped lightly for breath. He didn't know just when Aura became so flushed however her reddened skin seemed to glisten in what light there was.

"I want some too!" Suddenly the two's heads were wrapped together in the arms of their daughter. "Everyone! Together!" The two were shared the same surprised expression, but soon also had the same matching smile and laughter. Aura for the first time in a long time, felt that thing were truly alright again.

"So… a lot's changed… you'll tell me about it later right?" He asked Aura as Zefie continued to shout things about family, and togetherness.

"Of course, I have to tell you," Aura replied as she tightened her hold on him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well… I'm sure it will be interesting." He had all the time in The World to listen, and to be with… his family… this was going to be weird.

 **Fool's Epitaph**

On forums, and hidden in places in The World R:2, a legend could be found. Simply rumors, a joke by the developers, or truth, no one could say. However the players compiled what they could find and it was then spread as common knowledge to those who played. Some were confused by it, others entranced, and some ignored it entirely as trite. Regardless only very few didn't hear of it. It went as such:

 _Even a goddess can fall in love._

 _Legends say that long ago, there was a boy ventured forth for the first time. He had no expectations and perhaps even less enthusiasm for the adventure before him. He did so as a means to relax from the day to day life he lead. Very soon after starting, he grew weary, and sat under a tree to rest and think. There the goddess, who watched him as he set forth, appeared before the boy in the guise of a fellow traveler. The two spoke at length with one another talking about many things. The goddess grew more intrigued as she spoke to the boy. He was different from others, he thought different from others, and in ways that the goddess had never seen. Wanting more, the goddess and the boy became friends and adventured together hence forth._

 _The boy grew stronger as time passed, the goddess watched him closely as he did so. One night, the goddess, curious about her ward, decided to determine more of who the boy was. The goddess then found traces in his home, and became aware of a terrible burden the boy held on his shoulders. She asked him to come to a holy ground the next adventure and here she for the first time she felt worry and care for a single individual, rather than for everyone. The boy was not bitter, nor did he foist anything upon others. Foolish as the boy might have been, the goddess found a rare wisdom in him, of which inklings of such were what drew her before. He told her that before, he did not care much to adventure, but now, he found something in her. The goddess made a vow to help ease his burden by providing her haven of adventure to him should he desire it._

 _Without her knowledge, the boy ventured forth one day on his own in a place that was beyond him. As strong as he'd become, there was much that still posed a danger to him. The goddess watched cautiously but could hold so much when she saw him almost killed by the monster he sought to defeat. In that moment, she granted him access to power that no others could wield. With that power, the monster was slain with little issue. The goddess then told the boy to return to the holy ground. When he returned, the goddess revealed herself. The goddess, aware of human greed, expected the boy to be overcome by the revelation and seek her power. Instead however, the boy was simply confused about what changed. The boy reasoned that the goddess was his friend, regardless of her status. The goddess could not help but be further amused by his simplicity. To him, nothing really changed, and the Goddess was fine with that._

 _One day however, the boy and the goddess were beset upon by bandits and desperate to protect her dearest friend, used her divine power to cow the bandits. A silver crusader who chanced upon the scene however, saw the use of divine magic and, mistaking it for the demonic, also attacked the two. As with the bandits, the crusader was also defeated with ease… an ease that shook the goddess to the core. She realized that she now began to value the boy over others to such a degree, that force was something she would not hesitate to use._

 _She shut the boy out, in fear of what she had become, but the boy refused, worried for his friend. He continued to press on until the goddess finally granted him an audience. She then told the boy that she would abandon their friendship. She was afraid of what was happening to her. She feared that soon her friendship with him would hinder her in her duty to love The World. She feared that this change within her would deal great harm to everything she knew. The boy told her that he would refuse as she in no way put her best effort into the task. The boy told the goddess that change was something inevitable. It is something that happens regardless. The boy also told her that change was to be tamed and mastered, not to be fled from. He asks her to think one more time about her decision. After gathering her thoughts, she found that she loved the boy as much as The World, and that she could not imagine being without either. She could not abandon either. It was confusing to her she told him, though not of her love, but the boy said that was fine. He'd help her find her answer._

 _Together with the goddess, the boy grew to be the strongest he could possibly be. To celebrate, the goddess bequeathed unto him a blade of divine make that could not be replicated. The boy thanked the goddess for the gift and asked if they could create an image to immortalize this moment. The Goddess obliged his request and an image was made._

 _Months passed, and the boy's task was done. He returned to that tree and told her that this would be goodbye. The goddess was confused, but the boy thanked her for everything she had done. Before she could say anything, the boy left. Worried over the one she held most dear, she made way to his home to find that the boy had died, his task's completion coming at the cost of his life. The Goddess' heart broke. She did not cry, as she held a duty to her people, but she mourned day after day in silence. One day, she called upon the essence and memory that she made with him. Using her powers she crafted from it a child that she thought of as their daughter so that he could forever have some place in The World they met._

 _When The World was reborn anew from the fires, she created knights to oversee it, as she felt that she no longer could watch The World. In that moment as she crafted her knights, she thought once more of that boy. In her heart, he still held strong. She wished to craft a single knight more, in memory of that boy. And so the goddess set to work. As if her plea to see him was answered, she was able to pull his soul from beyond, and return it to the world of the living despite having no domain over the dead._

 _The boy awoke once more. The World to him had changed. He wandered the land in search of anyone he could find, but not a single soul could he see. When he took rest, the daughter appeared before him and told him to meet at the tree. The tree he remembered changed, in a lake and cavern it lay. There he saw a message written in the sand, but knew that the goddess was watching. He beckoned to her in the hopes that she would appear to him. Without a moments delay, she appeared before him, unchanged by time. Overcome, the goddess embraced her love and finally spoke with her heart. The boy, surprised, was slow but returned the feelings of the goddess. The two then disappeared, leaving the new world to the people. They say to this day, the two still love each other and continue to live amongst the people. Together, they watch over the world._

 _The End…_

* * *

Author's Notes:

Just a note if you came here after reading FIEW, no the two are not related in anyway. Well in my mind at the very least. That pesky Death of the Author stuff always sneaks up on me.

Anyways I stewed around with this idea, and then just met it out as I went along. Biggest Problem honestly was writing for Aura. She is almost a non-entity as a character. Not a lot of information at all anywhere as to her personality. Does she have a favorite food, turns of phrase, wacky fears, nothing. She basically had, loving, forgiving, loves The World, does things to alleviate boredom, and that's pretty much it. I had to pretty much make up half the stuff that goes on with her. Hopefully I did a good enough job of showing her evolve as a person as well, which is sort of the other point of Social Links, for the person in question to learn and grow.

Other than that, it was pretty much making sure I had my .hack knowledge straight and trying to make sure I get the P3 MC right… did you notice I never mentioned his offline name the whole time? That wasn't too hard, but still something I had to consciously work with.

Lastly, I really wanted to continue this onwards with stuff from the .hack GU OVA I think was called Returners or something like that, but it was getting long enough as is so I cut that… yeah… about 28k words, nothing wrong with that and more than 50+ pages in the word document. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Anyways, as always, or for the first time, tell me your thoughts in a review, things I did wrong and ways to improve on those would certainly help most.

Thank you for your time, have yourselves a wonderful day, and take care.

Last thought, isn't it weird how (as of this writing), there isn't an Infinite Stratos and Ranma ½ cross over? Or is that just me… just me? Okay…

Good night everybody!


End file.
